A YOUNG man in Thurrock is making big strides in the world of teaching and music.

William James, who attended Treetops School in Grays, is a graduate of the SupaJam Post-16 specialist music college in Swanley, Kent, and is now working with the borough-based Evolve Youth Academy.

Evolve (based at Towers Road on the Globe Estate in Grays) facilitates alternative education learning for young people who have been marginalised by mainstream education, in care or not currently in education or training and with funding from the National Lottery Community Fund is helping William take part in the "Bridging the Gap" project.

William, 27, who has already released an album of his own music on Spotify, has been using the music studio at Evolve (check out their Facebook page) free of charge to enhance his skills and hone in on his talent.

The funding provided by the Community Fund will allow William to continue doing so, while also giving him the opportunity to work with others in the community.

Shortly he will be working with students from Treetops at Evolve Youth Academy, showing them how to work with music-making equipment and to produce their own sounds.

William James.

William records and produces music under the name WillJamm and his first album Motivation is released on Sky Rocket Records on Friday 22 December.

William's mum Mo says: "William has many musical talents. He has perfect pitch, he sings with the Thames Operatic Chorus, he is able to learn a complicated piece of music in any language incredibly quickly.

"He has a wide knowledge of music styles and genres and can often identify sampled music in tracks.

"He can play most instruments at a basic level and he can play the drums and sing at the same time (not easy, apparently).

"He creates music in many different styles, he can tune instruments accurately without using devices.

"He is the first student to attend SupaJam to release an entire album.

And yet, the first thing that most people see when they meet William is his neurodiversity, and his barriers.

"I am grateful to Evolve who, like SupaJam, have seen William for his abilities and talents and thought hard about how they can work with him, accommodating his support needs, and offered him paid work opportunities.

"He is not patronised, but accepted and respected for what he brings to the table.

"They treat him as a colleague and have accepted his advice and guidance on studio equipment.

"He enjoys working at Evolve and is looking forward to their future collaborations."