Choir plans for “twice as many young people with disabilities in Birmingham to enjoy singing and making music together” – and now aims to perform at King Charles’ Coronation Legacy Concert

Birmingham’s ground-breaking Inclusive Choir – which already supports 20 young people with significant disabilities in the city – is planning to expand having been selected for the UK-wide Big Give Christmas match funding programme.

But its plans are dependent on it raising more than £2,000 in just one week between Tuesday, November 28 and Tuesday, December 5.

The Choir, which is free to join and attend and which runs at The Mac Arts Centre and online, is striving to raise more than £2,000 that will then be doubled by Big Give which runs match-funded campaigns for charities and special causes at key moments across the year.

“Birmingham’s Inclusive Choir has had a huge and beneficial impact on those with profound disabilities who now have the chance to get together, perform and sing together and celebrate a passion for music and singing,” said Stuart Birnie, Head of The Music Service at Services For Education, the Birmingham charity that helped pioneer the concept with Soundabout – a national charity that supports people of all ages with severe and profound learning disabilities.

“Our goal is to enable twice as many young people in Birmingham with significant disabilities to enjoy singing and making music together. We now need to raise funds to double the number of young people who can join and attend for free. We are hoping that big-hearted Brummies and businesses will rise to the challenge,” he said.

Birmingham’s Inclusive Choir started in 2021. Free to join without auditions, it offers an informal way to come together and show a passion for music, rhythm and singing – with each choir member having their own way of sharing their voice.

Experienced vocal teachers and specialist practitioners from Services For Education work with members as a group and individually to build their confidence to take part. As well as singing, choir members can take part in ways that they feel comfortable including sound and music-making with instruments, movement and dance.

Birmingham Inclusive Choir has members as young as six-years old up to about 25-years old who sing a range of songs chosen by choir members including pop, popular and classics.

“Our big goal is for an enlarged Choir to perform at the King’s Coronation Legacy Concert at the Mac Arts Centre on May 4, 2024. We’re hoping that this will give a huge boost to their confidence both as a group and individually,” said Stuart.

The Birmingham Inclusive Choir meets in person once a month and every other two weeks virtually. It is also part of the wider West Midlands Inclusive Choir which earlier this year won the ‘Excellence in SEND (Music and Drama)’ Award at the prestigious national Music and Drama Education Awards 2023.

To donate visit:

https://www.sfecharity.co.uk/about-us/inclusive-choirs/

https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a056900002RXu8NAAT

For more information visit https://sandbox.servicesforeducation.co.uk/our-offer/inclusive-choir/

ENDS

About Services For Education:

An education and training charity based in Birmingham, Services For Education brings music and learning to life. It is the recipient of several major awards including as a finalist and winner of previous Music and Drama Awards. It has recently been recognised in the Asian Chamber of Commerce |Awards and The Charity Awards.

Services For Education employs more than 200 staff delivering music tuition to children, and expert training and development to teaching and school support staff. Part-funded by the Arts Council, England it also has its own fund-raising and subsidised commercial operations.

• Services For Education’s Music Service, one of the largest in the country, works with 93% of Birmingham schools and each year teaches music to nearly 32,000 children – as well as running 97 free ensembles. It provides 27,000 musical instruments free-of-charge so all children have access to playing and enjoying music together and its Youth Proms at Symphony Hall give 4,000 young musicians the opportunity to perform to an audience of more than 10,000. It also runs music schools, has a world music department, provides private music tuition to all ages as well as working with partners to deliver music and choral opportunities to disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. Its award-winning Online Music Educational Resource was completed and launched free to schools in 2021 to appeal to a young IT-connected audience attracted to learning online and to complement traditional tuition.
• Services For Education’s School Support Service provides expert training and development to teaching and support staff in nearly 600 schools in the West Midlands and increasingly across England, to improve practice and ensure teachers are best equipped to respond to developments in curriculum and policy. As a leading provider of safeguarding education, Services For Education works with 400 schools delivering training in-person and on-line. It also delivers innovative programmes to support the physical and emotional health of children and young people through Health for Life and other community-based activity.

Services For Education’s Annual Review for 2022 is available here: https://sandbox.servicesforeducation.co.uk/annual-review-2022/

Issued on behalf of:

Services For Education
Unit 3 Holt Court
Holt Street
Birmingham Science Park
Aston
Birmingham B7 4AX

For further information on Services For Education:

David Clarke, Clarke Associates, (Public and media relations, Services For Education)
E: david-c@clarke-associates.co.uk;
M: 07808 735255