Our Stories

A Band Called ‘Stranger’

Jake first came to Livewire when he was eleven years old. Now nearing his eighteenth birthday, he still attends what he describes as, ‘This amazing youth charity’. Jake had been playing lead guitar since he was six years old and was told about Livewire being a great way to meet other young musicians – it […]

Anna Ashton

Anna’s story is another uplifting example of the impact Livewire had on a young life, and how far that influence has reached into adulthood. Anna has given us permission to name her, and the words are her own. ‘I was pretty lost when I first got involved with Livewire. I was having some heavy issues […]

Dan Reid, ‘Company B’

Dan has kindly given us permission to name him for his story. Dan is the brilliant vocalist of the highly acclaimed, ‘Company B.’ The words are all his. ‘I was in a bit of a bad way when I got involved with Livewire, I had been kicked out of school and was pretty directionless. I […]

A Tale of Two Friends

Two young men started attending Livewire together – turning up and each booking music lessons – they would sit in on each other’s sessions, then leave. Staff at Livewire had managed to have conversations with them on many occasions, but they were unable to encourage them to stay and engage in further activities at Livewire. […]

Young Man ‘E’s’ Story

When this young man was a developing fifteen-year old musician, he discovered Livewire, while seeking to progress an early interest in Livewire’s free music lessons and band development. Whilst he had no complex personal issues, he recalls he was experiencing social anxiety and a lack of direction in his life. After exploring many of the […]

Young Woman ‘D’s’ Story

This young woman initially came to Livewire for work experience. She went to school in Torpoint but lived in Saltash and had absolutely no social life, which considering the distance between school and home would have been a challenge for most young people, but this young woman was probably the shyest person who ever came […]

Young Man ‘D’s’ Story

Following her son’s third attempt at taking his own life, we received a telephone call from his desperate mother. She was terrified to leave the house in case she came home to find him dead. He loved his electric guitar, and a social worker had suggested to her that she contact us to see if […]

Young Woman ‘C’s’ Story

This young woman came to Livewire’s E2E (Entry to Employment) programme through the ‘Lift Project’. She had an eating disorder and dreadfully low self-esteem, which compounded some mental health problems. We worked with her for the full twenty-two-week E2E programme and during this time she also engaged with other aspects of Livewire, attending our youth […]

Young Woman ‘B’s’ Story

Desperate to get her life back on track, this young woman was aged seventeen when she was referred to Livewire via the Youth Offending team. At the age of fifteen, she had left an abusive family home and moved in with a boyfriend, which soon turned into an abusive relationship. The young woman dropped out […]

Young Man ‘C’s’ Story

This young man came to Livewire’s junior club when he was eleven, a frighteningly withdrawn young person, with massive anger issues, anxiety and a clear awkwardness around his peers. What we didn’t know at the time was that his father was in prison for a long and violent campaign of abuse against this young man […]

Young Man ‘B’s’ Story

This young man used to come to Livewire as a budding bass player in a local band. Unfortunately, the band had a falling-out and its members all went off in different directions, doing their own thing. For his part, this young man disengaged from Livewire and became involved with a different peer group – one […]

Young Woman ‘A’s’ Story

Now aged nineteen, this young woman came to Livewire as a very troubled person, with complex anxiety issues and other debilitating problems involving self-harm and an eating disorder, which at the time almost resulted in her hospitalisation. Our early experiences of her were of her sitting, terrified, refusing to make eye contact and barely uttering […]

Young Man ‘A’s’ Story

This young man has been involved with Livewire for almost fifteen years. He started attending when he was around nine years-old, when in his words, ‘Livewire was just a sports hall, a pool table and a group of inspiring and kind volunteers and musicians.’ Now at twenty-three, he is starting out on a music career […]