PHOTOS: Rap stars win big at Ministry for Life awards

Posted on: November 14, 2018 Posted by: Tom M

After a year of hard work, Ministry of Life participants from Gabalfa, Pentwyn and Tremorfa received awards at the Sprout’s HQ last month.

Ministry director Joff with musical masterminds Shane, Ffion, Abbie and Alex.

We’ve got exclusive pictures of the hottest event in town. A whole year has gone by in which young people at the Ministry of Life clubs in Gabalfa, Tremorfa and Pentwyn have worked hard on their music skills, becoming true stars of the stage. Now though, they’re also stars of screen, featuring in a set of awesome music videos. The stars hit the streets of Cardiff Bay last month in their custom-made XO ATTRACTION hoodies.

Radio Platfform’s Ezra gets the crew in for their first radio interviews.

The day started with a trip to Radio Platfform in the Wales Millenium Centre. More at home when being recorded than recording, the Ministry of Life crew got a chance to be behind the decks for once on the air.

Terri-Mae and Rowan had a quick jam session at Radio Platfform.

It was also the launch night for Wicked at the Millenium Centre, the smash-hit sell-out musical which retells the story of The Wizard of Oz. The group were given an exclusive preview of the press night’s party room. The West End stars are said to have been happy for the visit from young people and upcoming artists XO ATTRACTION…

Shane livens up the talk in the helpline hub.

Next, the Ministry of Life headed over to ProMo-Cymru’s offices (also the headquarters of the Sprout, and the hub of the Meic helpline). The crew learned about Meic and The Sprout.

Andrew and Tom do a presentation for the MoL Crew.

Next the Ministry of Life’s talented musicians met the Sprout’s editing team, stocked up on Sprout freebies, and had another go at filming with a green screen.

Abbie, Shane, Alex and Ffion get photographed by a Sprout reporter.

Then the moment of truth as the stars headed downstairs for the awards ceremony! The tables were laid out and the stage was set for a massive party.

Of course no-one waited long to eat! The buffet was full of all sorts of snacks from cute little cakes to gorgeous wraps.

Kady receives her award with Arielle and Joff.

Everybody received their awards gained from working with Ministry of Life over the months- and in some cases years.

Long time Ministry member and grime artist Taffari Falzon awarded a certificate of achievement.

Everyone has been working up to these awards for a long time. So much hard work has gone into them. The project was led by the young people of the Ministry of Life, who designed and ordered their branded hoodies, wrote and performed their lyrics, then arranged for ProMo-Cymru to visit to shoot their music videos and take press shots.

Terri-Mae got two awards. Seen here with Joff and ProMo’s Arielle.

The Ministry crew then got to experience the world premiere of the XO ATTRACTION music videos. The videos were edited by Daniele, ProMo’s video editor.

With the awards winding down, Ministry staffer Jamie was the DJ as the open mic night began.

For the rest of the evening the stars showed us what they’ve got!

10 people had achieved Agored Cymru awards in Introduction To Rock and Pop Singing which was supported by Community Music Wales. 16 young people achieved Bronze Youth Achievement Awards with the support of Youth Cymru. So of course it was only right that they showed us what they could do at the end!

ProMo’s involvement with Ministry of Life came through the Millenium Trust so we we would like to thank all those involved.

XO ATTRACTION show us what they’re made of.

A massive thanks also to Cardiff Youth Service and their Youth Innovation Grants for enabling the project to go ahead. As you can see it has been a resounding success. Who knows what’s next for XO ATTRACTION?