This is the Year of the Youth.
Last year was our first full year of operation – and despite emerging out of it in a sort of shambling, exhausted fugue state worthy of a background extra in The Walking Dead, we still managed to tackle all the challenges that we’d set ourselves, and a few we didn’t.
We wanted to establish ourselves as Lincolnshire’s go-to grassroots CIC for promoting mental wellness through the arts, and we smashed it. Even better, we took Lincolnshire’s talent on the road and were able to share it with the rest of the UK as part of our F*CK NORMAL ON TOUR project, which gave our home-grown Lincolnshire talent some well-deserved opportunities to spread their wings.
We wanted to focus on neuroinclusivity and promoting community togetherness, despite being told we’re the wrong fit, too loud, and too different – and, like Elton John in the 80’s, We’re Still Standing.
So when we say that 2026 is the year that we’re doubling down on our promise to Lincolnshire’s weird and wonderful, we mean it. This year, we’ve been focusing on Young Musicians – and thanks to the Youth Music Trailblazer Funding we’ve received, we’re more equipped than ever to give young Lincolnshire musicians a chance to pursue their passions.
It’s my genuine pleasure to kick off this blog with a rundown of NTKO’s top-ticket projects in 2026 – from funding breakthroughs and fundraiser gigs to updates on fan favourites like the Riff Room and Summer School Projects.
Let’s dive in.
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Youth Music Trailblazer Funding Secured!
Let’s start with the big one – getting to collaborate with such an influential organisation as Youth Music is great news for us, and means that we’re able to support our community better than ever before!
For those that don’t know, Youth Music are an organisation committed to making music more accessible across the UK. They’ve helped over 5,500 music projects like ours by granting over £273 Million in funding, all to give young musicians across the United Kingdom a chance to thrive in the music industry.
With the help of their Youth Music Trailblazer funding, we’ve been able to access resources and provide more services than ever, and pass those benefits on to young musicians across Lincolnshire.
“To be recognised by a national organisation as big and as influential as Youth Music is quite humbling – they’re one of the largest organisations supporting grassroots and young musicians,” says NTKO CIC Creative Director Dale Tyler.
“We get to offer great networking opportunities for young people, and it allows us to bring in professional musicians and tutors to connect young artists with industry professionals, and make new friends, all for free.”
This funding is what’s enabled us to host 4 new sessions a month across the Skegness, Ruskington, Sleaford, and Boston areas, like our ‘Family Jam’ sessions, which give young musicians of up to 19 years of age a chance to meet fellow artists, learn from professionals, and discover or relearn their passion for music. More on that later.
By the People, For the People
None of what we do would be possible without the hard work of community leaders that we’ve been lucky enough to be able to work with – people like Julien Gash, Kathy Flint, and her partner, Stephen Whitton, who’ve been championing our projects across the Boston and Ruskington area:
Julien is a music teacher and a street performer with almost 3 decades of experience.
Julien Gash, who leads our Summer School project, is a long-time multi-instrumentalist and music teacher, as well as a songwriter and street performer.
Teaching music both privately and in schools for over 28 years, he’s not just a pillar of the community, but a font of all sorts of musical knowledge, too – knowledge that he’s sharing with all the young musicians taking part in our Summer School Project, completely for free.
“I’ve been teaching in schools for 28 years, and gigging all over the world for 25,” says Julien, “and there hasn’t been anything more rewarding than working with a charitable organisation like NTKO CIC that are helping young people discover music and make friends.”
Julien’s musical inspiration comes from artists like Steve Vai, Robert Glasper, and Tom Waits.
“There hasn’t been anything more rewarding than working with a charitable organisation like NTKO CIC. They’re helping young people discover music and make friends.”
– Julien Gash
Meanwhile, Kathy Flint and partner Stephen Whitton take up the mantle of running our sound and PA for the summer school project, and lead the Boston Riff Room and Young Person’s Showcase.
A Guitarist and Singing Tutor, Kathy believes that projects like the Riff Room expand simple music tuition into something much more valuable, offering young artists the chance to perform to a diverse and welcoming audience, gain confidence, and build performance skills while making new friends.
Her partner Stephen has also been involved in running the Summer School in Ruskington with Julien. His experience playing a broad range of styles ranging from The Beatles to Funk, Punk and Disco means he’s well equipped to inspire young people, no matter how different their tastes in music.
Stephen and Kathy lead the Summer School and Young Person’s Showcase.
The Riff Room – School’s Out for Summer
Julien and Stephen take the reins on The Riff Room’s latest evolution, School’s Out For Summer. A five-week program hosted in Ruskington, it was designed to give young musicians extra-curricular opportunities to play music with peers, make new friends, and learn from experienced adult musicians.
Following in its footsteps, our new Family Jam Sessions will bring all the best bits of the Summer School project; the improv, the collaboration, the weird, impromptu creativity; and add a new focus on bringing along family to jam, watch, and show support.
Community building starts with connection, and we’ve always wanted to make sure that we’re promoting healthy bonds within the arts community. Our Family Jam Sessions are designed to take that ethos and expand it to the family network, giving parents and children a chance to bond over music and interact with other musicians.
School’s Out for Summer and the Family Jam Sessions are some of the ways we’re focusing on giving young people a chance to perform.
The Original Riff Room still continues on Wednesdays at The Pin Cushion at Wyberton, with experienced guitar and singing tutor Kathy Flint manning the helm – so if you’re interested in playing music but don’t have a band to play with, or perhaps just want to try something new with strangers or find some undiscovered talent, give it a go!
You can find more information about the Riff Room, The Family Jam Sessions, and other great live music events at our Events page, here.
“To be recognised by a national organisation as big and as influential as Youth Music is quite humbling. They’re one of the largest organisations supporting grassroots and young musicians.”
– Dale Tyler
Introducing: The Young Person’s Showcase
Long-time NTKO CIC supporters might remember our very first event, the 2024 Battle of the Bands. It was the start of something beautiful, and while the venues may have changed over the years, the core message has always been the same – bring the best of Lincolnshire’s young musicians into the limelight, and give them a stage to showcase their talent.
This year, we’re staying true to that important message in a new way. After we listened to feedback from our performers about how it can be intimidating to perform music in a competition setting, we decided that we’d remove the competitive element and open the boundaries of the show into the ‘Young Person’s Showcase’ – after all, we always wanted the event to show how collaboration and community brings people together. We’re better when we lift each other up, rather than fighting for the ladder.
“We also didn’t want to exclude solo musicians, so instead of doing a competition this year, we wanted to do a showcase where any musicians can show off their skills – with no pressure.” Says Dale. “It’s going to be a mainstay going forward, and we’re really excited to see what new talent will show itself in the years to come.”
Stay tuned for more information by following us on Facebook @wearenotthatkindof for more details!
Until Next Time!
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading! We’re really excited to tell you about all the potential that’s on the horizon in Part 2 later this year, and we’re even more excited that we’ve been able to experience this journey with all of you. Seeing the positive impact it’s making on people is the reason we keep going.
Catch us next time as we talk about NTKO’s Podcast, The Empty Room Interviews, and dial in on some of the challenges that young musicians face in the industry – and, of course, what we can do to help them.
Stay weird, Lincolnshire.
– Mitch
