The ‘Futures’ initiative has been developed by Musicians Making a Difference (MMAD) with the support of Youth Justice, to deliver round the clock audio programming crafted to connect with, and inspire its audience.
Designed to uplift and encourage listeners to engage and realise their full potential, Futures serves as a transformative and empowering platform for young people at Cobham, offering them the opportunity to connect with positive, culturally relevant programming.
It’s already making a difference.
MMAD Co-founder, Dominic Brook, said: “We’re seeing young people wanting to keep building the program on release – it gives them something real to look forward to and a reason to keep pushing for a better future.
“The transformation has been powerful. A psychologist told us, a boy who struggled with reading, writing, and speaking has made huge progress through being part of the Futures crew.
“One young man even made it into the top 20 for the MMAD Sony Star program, after reaching out to us on his very first day of release.
“We see this program as not only building skills, but also opening up opportunities to create meaningful content around mental health and other important conversations for young people inside Cobham and beyond.”
Futures is available 24 hours a day to young people, via Channel 103 on Cobham’s internal TV system, and young people at the centre have the choice to tune in.
Its programming caters to the young audience of detainees needs – self-esteem and practical pathways to change their futures, artfully combined with the things they love most – music, and specifically hip-hop culture.
As part of the pilot program, MMAD staff visit the centre to work directly with young people, helping to create content that represents their voices in an appropriate and respectful way.
It’s even garnered the support of Nova 96.9 Sydney host, Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli, who has spent time with the young men discussing the life skills and technical skills working in radio offers.
All shows are pre-recorded and approved by Youth Justice and MMAD before being aired. Content follows strict guidelines, ensuring it is suitable and appropriate for the young audience.
The ‘Futures’ initiative will be reviewed by MMAD and Youth Justice at the end of the pilot period with a view for it to expand to other Youth Justice centres across NSW and Australia.
Futures Committee member Jordan Traei has firsthand experience of time in detention and said: “If I’d had MMAD and Futures Radio when I was locked up, things would’ve turned around way quicker.”
