The Outlook Podcast Archive - My music bus healing a gang divide

Download My music bus healing a gang divide

Justin Finlayson is a former bus driver on a mission to save young lives. He comes from an area of London which suffers from a long term gang divide. When the violence got particularly bad back in 2017, he drew on his driving background and came up with an idea to try to heal the rivalries. Justin bought a double decker bus, built a recording studio inside, and created a musical sanctuary where young people from warring areas could make music. Justin’s project, which he called United Borders, soon captured the attention of the stars of UK hip hop and grime - Akala, Stormzy and Nines. But the project wasn't easy, and the first bus was burnt down by arsonists. Justin persevered and now he's operating in a new bus, surrounded by young people whose lives he's changed.

Jo Fidgen caught up with Justin to name him of the winners of BBC Inspirations 2020.

For rights reasons, we were unable to include Akala’s contribution in this podcast, but you can listen to him in the radio version. It’s available - along with full details of the awards, Covid-19 related changes, and our revised terms - on our website: www.bbcworldservice.com/inspirations.

Producers: Harry Graham, Maryam Maruf, Troy Holmes
Editor: Munazza Khan

Picture: Justin Finlayson
Credit: Brunel Johnson

Published on Monday, 21st December 2020.

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