Midsummer Street Party – we need your help!

This Summer we’re taking to the streets to bring you a musical extravaganza that will fill Spitalfields with sound!

On Saturday 23 June, we’ll be hosting our Midsummer Street Party on Brushfield Street and all around the area. In particular, we’ll also be bringing you three fantastic activities for everyone to enjoy: music & dance collaborations hidden around the area; a storytelling yurt for our youngest audiences members; and a folksy-urban dance for everyone updating the traditional maypole.

Find out more from the people involved in our video:

But, we need your help to make this all happen. From now until the end of the month we’re asking you to donate online through Just Giving from as little as £5.00 to help bring Spitalfields to life for an unforgettable day of outdoor fun! (We’ve also put together some treats for you to say thank you for your support!)

See www.justgiving.com/midsummer for more information and how you can donate.

Big Give Aspirations

“… we have learnt about each other, ourselves and the communities in which we live”

The launch of our Christmas Challenge with the Big Give is only two weeks away! Through this initiative you can support some of our life-changing work with young people and adults with special educational needs across Tower Hamlets.

Workshop leader Zoë Palmer has been working with us as part of our Learning & Participation programme. She shares some of her memorable experiences working with students on the Tower Hamlets College Aspirations programme.

“Working with the Aspirations group over the past three years has been a rewarding experience. We have written songs about our hopes and dreams, and others inspired by Chinese teachings on the five elements. In the process we have learnt about each other, ourselves and the communities in which we live. What’s great about this group is the spirit of playfulness they embody during the workshops. One person who particularly comes to mind is Margaret, an older woman who has been working with us from the very beginning. She sings everything with inspiring energy and commitment – and always takes a moment to walk around the room at the end of the session to thank us all individually, and to express her enthusiasm for the music we’ve created. Another enriching aspect of this project has been our work with Ellie Rees who has worked with the group to create some wonderful visuals to run alongside the music, this has allowed us to explore blending colour, light and sound, whilst getting our hands messy and having a whole lot of fun in the process!”

Our challenge is to raise £72,000 to make sure that we can continue to work with these extraordinary people in 2012. You can make a difference by donating with the Big Give on Monday 5 December from 10am onwards. If you do so, the Big Give will match your donation – pushing us closer to our target.

Read more information about the programme.

Find out how to donate.

The Big Give Christmas Challenge

With the Big Give we have launched a new campaign to support some of the most important work within our Learning & Participation programme – and you can help us! We regularly work with children and adults who have special educational needs, using music to build skills, increase confidence and raise aspirations.

Our challenge this Christmas is to raise £72,000 to make sure that we can keep working with these extraordinary people in 2012. You can make a difference by donating with the Big Give on Monday 5 December from 10am onwards; if you do the Big Give will match your donation pushing us closer to our target.

‘Spitalfields Music projects… [are] central to enabling them to develop, to progress socially and emotionally’

One of the organisations we work with in this part of our programme is the Cherry Trees School. Head Teacher, Stuart Walker shared with us what the programme means to the participants and the school:

‘The Cherry Trees is a school for boys in Tower Hamlets with severe emotional and social difficulties, we have a well earned reputation for innovation in teaching.  In constructing a creative and expressive learning environment for our pupils, we have brought in the very best from the range of specialist expertise.

‘Spitalfields Music’s involvement has been central to this process for over ten years. They have developed a series of innovative improvisation and performance workshops which have presented opportunities with transformational potential.

‘Looking back over their time here, ex-pupils very frequently specify their involvement in the performing arts of the Spitalfields Music projects, as being central to enabling them to develop, to progress socially and emotionally. We have a small amount of recorded video and audio from this work which we’d be happy to share and discuss with anyone interested in the capabilities of well delivered arts education in helping young people overcome social and emotional barriers to their progress.’

If you’d like to see some of the work we’ve done with the Cherry Trees, have a look at the collection of videos on the school’s website.