Thanks to our fabulous supporters, Armonico Consort’s £300K Encore Appeal has raised over £81,368 in the first four months and is on the way to reaching £150K by June.
Make my day, make me poorer – I will give 30p in the £1 for every £1 donated up to the first £100,000 raised. We’re nowhere near that yet, so come on, give a little – or a lot. Together we can smash this £300,000 target!” Roger Medwell MBE DL, Armonico Consort President
The Encore Appeal is raising vital funds to create choirs in schools in deprived areas, establish Memory Singers choirs for people living with dementia and provide composition and performance sessions for children with special educational needs.
Look what we’ve achieved already …
For children in deprived areas…
Thanks to your donations, our Encore Appeal has matched funded a partnership with local music education hub, Warwickshire Music. We’ve used this Encore Appeal support to create and nurture choirs and choir leaders in five Warwickshire schools – benefitting almost 500 young people.
In Nuneaton, where 15 areas are in the top 20% of the most deprived in the country, pupils from Etone College secondary school got the incredible opportunity to join other choirs, created by Armonico Consort in Bedworth and Warwickshire, to perform with the world-famous a capella group, The King’s Singers. We led a five-week Choir Creation course and trained a teacher who will continue to lead the choir going forward.
Marvellous feedback…
“I feel like this project has helped with giving us male musical role models. It shows that people can do singing professionally as a career, and they understand what you’re going through as a young man singing.” Etone College student, Aidan (Year 10)
“Singing is definitely a confidence boost for me. It has helped with my confidence and mental health. Music and singing make me want to come into school more – whatever is going on outside school I know that I can rely on music to help me get through it.“ Alyssia (Year 9)
For those living with dementia in our communities…
Since September 2021, our Memory Singers sessions in Warwick have been serving a growing demand and benefitting an increasing number of people living with dementia and their carers and our sessions have featured on BBC TV Midlands Today.
Donations to the Encore Appeal from individuals and charitable trusts and foundations mean we can now start a new Memory Singers project in Warwickshire.
As a partner of the Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Singing for the Brain’ initiative our specially-trained musicians mean more people living with dementia will experience the significant positive effects of singing and music, improving mental and physical health, well-being, and happiness.
Marvellous feedback…
“We both benefit enormously from the social interaction within the group. My husband loves the attention from the volunteers, and I enjoy talking to other carers. It makes me feel that there are other people in a similar situation to me”.
Our sincere thanks to everyone who has donated – it means a great deal.
For young people with special educational needs…
Armonico Consort has been running projects in Special Educational Needs (SEN) schools for over 10 years. In July 2022, thanks to the support of Youth Music and other local funders, 80 children with a range of educational needs took part in a performance of their own unique version of Jack and the Beanstalk in the Albany Theatre, Coventry.
Children were offered the opportunity to be entered for the Arts Council’s Discover Arts Award and Central Television News were there to film a feature for the evening news. This was very exciting indeed for the young people taking part and their parents!
Heartening feedback…
“I’ve never performed in a theatre before! It’s like the first time ever!! I’m literally so excited, I mean nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I feel really proud of myself for doing this work. My parents will be here, and they’ll be proud of me I’m sure.” SEN student
“It brings all the students together, with a variety of different needs, and it shows what they can achieve together, working as a team, to produce such a wonderful performance”. Emma Gilmour, teacher, Riverbank Academy
PLEASE DONATE NOW You can donate safely and securely to The Encore Appeal. Please add Gift Aid if you are able to, as it increases the value of your donation to us at no extra cost to you.
Each £ will help:
- Children in deprived areas – music as part of a choir builds resilience, and supports mental health, cooperation, and academic achievement.
- Those living with dementia in our communities – our Memory Singers work helps to combat isolation, helping to reconnect memory and alleviate anxiety.
- Young people with special educational needs to discover their voices by creating original compositions, which express their ideas, interests and experiences.
