Glasgow 's Riverside Festival have teamed up with a mental health focussed charity for a very special partnership.
Turn The Tables are a homelessness and mental health social enterprise who will have the opportunity to take over one of the biggest stages in electronic music this year.
The organisation is founded on providing support for people who are affected by homelessness across Scotland, this includes asylum seekers and refugees and at risk youth.
Through an inclusive and accessible programme, the project gives participants the opportunity to learn to mix and perform their own DJ sets, while building mental health resilience through a holistic approach to wellbeing.
They are delighted to announce that one of their recent graduate of the organisations Homelessness DJ Project, Sam, has been invited to perform a set at RF21 this September.
Sam said: “I joined the DJ workshops to pass time when I was staying at a hostel and now I’m playing at an actual music festival. It feels amazing, surreal but amazing. Turn The Tables’ project has given me so much confidence and motivation to get through some hard times and I’m very excited about the future.”
Robbie Tolson, founder of Turn The Tables, said: “This partnership gives Turn The Tables a platform and outlet for our DJs to perform at the highest level. Giving new participants a goal to work towards, while challenging public perceptions and stigma at one of Europe's leading electronic music festivals.”
And ambassadors for Turn The Tables, Slam, said: “As ambassadors for Turn The Tables and also co -programmers for the Riverside Festival, we’re glad to be able to facilitate and bring new talent from Turn The Tables Stable. We’re so pleased to be able to offer empowerment and encouragement for this very worthwhile social enterprise.”
Joining Sam on the grounds of Glasgow’s iconic Riverside Museum is an eclectic array of the world’s most cutting-edge DJs, including Jamie xx, Disclosure, Amelie Lens and Skream.
Turn The Tables ambassador and internationally renowned DJ Nightwave will also be playing, alongside fellow ambassadors and co-curators of the festival Slam who will be debuting their brand new Hybrid Live concept.
In Glasgow, Turn The Tables has already had support from artists and organisations from across the city’s electronic music scene, including from internationally revered Groove City Radio and the Sub Club.
The concept behind Turn The Tables was sparked when Robbie, a Heriot Watt Town Planning and Property Development Graduate from Stirling, signed up to volunteer at Edinburgh’s Social Bite Village homelessness support community in 2018.
From here, Robbie successfully set up various DJ workshops and gigging opportunities for people living in hostels or facing homelessness.
The opportunity to learn to mix, operate professional sound and light equipment, and reconnect with the music they love, while socialising in a safe environment, was an invaluable experience for those involved.
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