Hello, I am Abdul and I have participated in work experience at a social enterprise called The RecordShop. The RecordShop is a small place but they have a big mission. Their mission is to help young people with their personal, profession and educational needs.

My work experience here at The RecordShop has taught me new skills that i haven’t learnt before such as customer service, what i had to do was serve the customers a drink it was very daunting as it was my first time and i didnt wish to make any mistakes with my first time but i managed to pull through and made my first sale. The second skill I learned was how to open the store and the regulations that must be followed when opening the store such as checking the expiry dates of the products that are sold, checking if the equipment is working properly and is ready for use.

The third skill I have come across was talking to customers when i was handing out leaflets and promoting the shop. This task was a little troublesome as most people walked by with no response but some people showed some interest and I explained what we do and why we do it and handed them a leaflet so they can come back and learn more about The RecordShop.

Abdul

Last month marked our third year at The Mall Wood Green. We have accomplished so much since we’ve been here and it’s only getting bigger and better! As this year is drawing to a close, let’s take a look back at an exceptional year. 

It kicked off with two successful events. The first one was the Mind Your Business Brunch, run by The ReignBow Club and Tinkk Buddah. This was a fantastic networking event focusing on mindset. The second one was RETREAT, a Mission Exhale event led by Shevelle. It was a particularly inspiring moment which involved insight into goal setting and self-reflection.

In the following month our creative work experience students transformed the stage for the open mic and the talented artist 705 became our first headliner for the open mic session. 

We also attended the career fairs at both St Thomas More Catholic School and The Grove School, to inform the lovely students about the music and work opportunities available at The RecordShop.  

For International Women’s Month, we visited the Broadwater Farm Community Centre to give a DJing and Beatmaking workshop. We then hosted a free Artisan & Craft Market led by Ebi Fusion, which takes place monthly. 

On April 15th, the artist Edie Rae held her EP launch party at our venue. She Speaks Faith, presented Paint with Purpose, a platform for a community of sisters to connect and grow in Christ.

In May, we had SWT EVENTS at our venue for their Art Attack & Yak – BDay special, 705 had a successful launch and listening party and then we embarked on a London tour! The acts consisted of LSKIN, WondRWomN, Cyka Psyko, KlaCat and 705. 

This brings us to the incredible RecFest, a jam packed festival full of fun, laughter, workshops, live music and activities for both children and adults. With over 300 visitors and more than 60 acts, the RecFest was a wonderful opportunity for up-and-coming talents like Steppazs, RONAN, girlnext2doors, KlaCat, FullaVibes and ADS Kru to showcase their music to our local community. There were so many highlights from the festival that we just can’t wait for the next one!

Also – in August we entertained the local residents as we DJ’d at Sky City Community Centre, which is located above The Mall Wood Green. 

September was another fantastic month as we received a letter from Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London! This came after the excellent project ‘Route Words’ by Shenece Oretha, which was displayed on Art on the Underground.

Our founder Mary recently had an interview with Music Cities Events where she expressed how she felt about receiving the letter from the mayor, and also talked about the free studio sessions for musicians and more. Click here to listen to the full interview. 

We also held a free ukulele workshop for children led by Margie Jammie from UkuLittle during the half term. 

We finally had a wonderful time at our open mic event last month. Amber, a talented singer and musician performed during the event. We will be working with her on her new single which will be recorded and mixed at The RecordShop. 

We plan to continue to support our musicians and young people in the coming year and you can expect to see great things from us. Don’t forget to follow us to stay updated!