SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! Music24 Launches Charity EP, 'Sing Together'

For the last 6 months, we have been working hard on a very special project - recording our first charity EP to mark not only our 10th Anniversary year, but to raise awareness of the ability within disability and to promote the importance of connection, inclusivity and equality through music in order to improve health and wellbeing.

Recorded at Abbey Road Studios back in May this year, we are very excited to announce that our 3-track EP is now available to all!  Our title track, ‘Sing Together’ is definitely a catchy one! 

HELP US ACHIEVE OUR GOAL!

In the beginning, we thought that taking Music24 to record an original song at Abbey Road Studios would just be a dream; out of our reach or, dare we say it, impossible? It was a challenge for us all, BUT, we DID IT!  It actually happened and Music24 is so proud of everyone who took part.

Our Service Users are incredible people.  Please go out and tell everyone about it!  Make it the soundtrack to your festive season and download now it from various streaming platforms including Amazon, iTunes and Spotify.

More a CD kind of person?  Purchase yours from our online shop, or, at one of our sessions.  Just ask a member of the team how to get your copy at your next in-person session!

You can also watch the music video on YouTube which launches from 6pm on Friday 15th November.

Sing Together

HOW IT ALL HAPPENED

The process from paper to studio started in 2023, when our service users were asked to contribute their ideas for lyrics.  We wrote these into the song and composed the music.  Then, we started rehearsing early in 2024 and by May, our group of 60 singers were ready for the big day – recording at Abbey Road Studios!  It was not only a special moment for us all but a huge achievement too.  We are so proud of all who took part.  Service users representing our Learning Disabilities, Dementia and Mental Health groups across Beds and Herts, joined staff, volunteers, carers and parents to give the song a voice - it marks everyone’s ability, no matter what personal challenges they face.

The three track EP also includes ‘Three Little Birds’ by Bob Marley and the Wailers, a song of hope and a firm favourite in Music24 sessions.  Performed by all 60 participants, it was also recorded at Abbey Road Studios on the same day as Sing Together.

We could not release our EP at Christmas time without something to celebrate the festive season,  The third track on the EP is ‘A Winter Chant’, which is an improvised version of ‘Silent Night’ and was recorded at London Road Studios in Baldock in September.  In the true spirit of Music24’s work, this track was made ‘in the moment’.  It reflects how music is sometimes created in our sessions when community musicians, therapists and participants come together to make music vocally and instrumentally, allowing it to become a vehicle for creative expression and  connection which is 100% spontaneous.

We hope you enjoy listening.  Turn up the volume, sing along and please share it far and wide!

Everything is possible!

Talking with Beyond Sound podcaster, Yasmin Cox

Back in May, Music24’s Graeme Davis sat down with journalism graduate and Beyond Sound podcast host, Yasmin Cox, to chat about music therapy interventions and myths.

We are pleased to share this interesting podcast now and hope you enjoy listening. The podcast, What Is Music Therapy? A Chat With Graeme Davis, is found below or on the music platform Spotify.

The party of the year! Watch our 10th Anniversary Celebration video.

Our 10th Anniversary Celebration Evening held at Venue 360 in Luton on 29th June 2024, was a huge success.  We were delighted that so many came to help us celebrate at what was an incredibly joyous occasion.  

It wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of our event sponsors, Love Luton, Venue 360, Luton Point, C&M Events, Rayner Essex and Silvertoad.  These all helped us to create this wonderful opportunity for so many people in the Music24 family to come together to mark a decade of Music24.   We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for making the occasion possible. 

On behalf of everyone at Music24, we would also like to thank Deputy Lieutenant, Hannan Ali, for joining us and for taking the time to meet and talk to so many of our guests; our Patron, Brindley Sherratt and his wife, Chris, for a spellbinding performance that enraptured everyone in the room and also cast members from Bedford Marianettes, who opened the evening for us with songs from the musicals.  Their infectious energy and enthusiasm really helped to set the scene for a glorious evening. 

We’re pleased to announce that we raised £806 on the night thanks to many local supporters, businesses and attractions who donated some incredible prizes for our raffle. Thank you to everyone who contributed some amazing prizes including Royal Opera House tickets, Folk by the Oak Festival tickets, family tickets to Wrest Park, Woburn Safari Park and Knebworth House – all super experiences for our wonderful guests to look forward to. 

Our event volunteers who kindly donated their time to help out on the night, also played a huge part in helping to make the evening a success, from car park monitoring and seating guests to serving food and ensuring the AV ran without a hitch - they were all so brilliant – things wouldn’t have been the same without them.  Thank you to everyone who helped make it such a great night. 

In true Music24 spirit, we sang and danced until the very end.

Thank you for the music and thank you everyone, for making this the best 10 years ever!

Watch this short video highlighting some of the event’s best bits!

Connections, Luton - Intergenerational Music Making this Summer

We are delighted to be facilitating a series of free intergenerational workshops this summer with our ‘Music24 Connections’ project.

Bringing together elderly people with Dementia and families with early years children, these free workshops will be held every Monday afternoon in Farley Hill in Luton from 29th July. 

Booking by telephone or by email in advance is essential as the workshops will attract a high level of interest and spaces are limited. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the duration of the workshops. Our flyer below gives more details about these events.

Hoping to see many of you soon!

Our 10th Anniversary Celebration - Who's Coming?

Ten years ago, we embarked on a mission to change lives through music.  We are so proud of what we have achieved in a decade.  Our work is now reaching more people every day throughout Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire and we look forward to many more years of making life-changing music with incredible people.

We desperately wanted to mark our 10th Anniversary with something special.  On Saturday 29th June, at Venue 360 in Luton, we will be hosting an evening of celebration for our service users, their carers, our staff, volunteers and trustees.  The event will see many people from the Music24 community across Beds and Herts coming together to enjoy good company and to celebrate the last decade with speeches, delicious food, a raffle and, of course, live music and a DJ to provide an opportunity to celebrate in true style and party the night away.

Due to the support of our incredible sponsors, we have been able to offer all of our guests a subsidised ticket fee. Tickets are available for purchase online now or in person at one of our sessions

If you would like to attend, please contact the Office at info@music24.org.uk or here and we will send you the private link to our secure ticket provider and more information. 

Alternatively, ask a member of the team in person at your next session. 

The deadline for ticket purchases is 10th June 2024.

MEET OUR EVENT SPONSORS

This event has been made possible by the very generous support of some amazing businesses and organisations in our community.  We are very grateful to the following sponsors who are helping to make our event special:

Our Lead Sponsor, Love Luton, is the partnership of businesses helping to bring the Luton community together whilst promoting confidence and pride in the town.  Music24 has community, inclusivity, equality and diversity at the heart of our work and we are therefore thrilled to have Love Luton’s support.

Our host for the evening, is the non-profit organisation at the heart of the Luton community, Venue 360.  We are very excited to have the support of the team at what is Luton’s leading events, sport, fitness and leisure complex. 

The Mall is Luton’s premier shopping centre.  Located in the heart of the town since 1972, the centre has been helping to promote the work of our charity since 2023.  We are delighted to have the further support of The Mall for our 10th Anniversary at this important moment in our history.

With a passion for fun, Claire and Mark are the fantastic people behind Bedfordshire’s party décor company, C&M Events and new shop, Chic Celebrations in Ampthill.  Their generous donation of time, dedication and creative input, has meant that our event will look amazing as well as have a few fun features to enjoy too.   We would like to thank them for all their support.

Silvertoad is an award-winning creative marketing agency in Luton offering services in branding and web design and development.  We are so happy that they are helping us to realise our dream event and we would like to thank the team for their kind support.

Based in London and St Albans, Rayner Essex is a friendly accountancy practice with a wide portfolio of expertise from Tax services to Payroll, Accounting services and more.  We are delighted that they have chosen to support us once again.

Raw Power Management are recent supporters of Music24.  An artist representation company, they manage a jaw-dropping portfolio of artists and bands regularly featured on the live music circuit both nationally and internationally.  We are very grateful for their involvement with our charity and look forward to developing our partnership further over the next few months.

PRIZES AND GOODIES

Tickets to the Royal Opera House, Folk by the Oak at Hatfield House and Woburn Safari Park, are just some of the wonderful raffle prizes and other goodies that will be available to win at the event on the evening of the celebration, along with many other memorable prizes which have been generously donated by other supporters too. More will be revealed in due course.

Keep an eye on our website or follow us on social media for more updates.

World Earth Day 2024 - Reducing Our Environmental Impact

It’s not just all about music, as a conscientious charity in so many ways, we are also aware of the environmental impact our day-to-day work has.  We have been developing our Environmental Policy and with this, exploring ways in which Music24 can operate as sustainably as possible in order to reduce the impact we have on the environment. 

There is no better time to do this than NOW!  Our pledge is to strive towards keeping our carbon footprint in check.  Taking this forward our aim is to:

• ·         Reduce our carbon emissions by encouraging car-sharing whenever possible and to source and use local talent.

• ·         Raise awareness and encourage our community to think “green” through music, songs and discussion.

• ·         Honour the environmentally conscious practices in place at the session venues we hire in each location.

We have embraced the opportunity to be as proactive as possible and recently surveyed all the venues we use in the different locations throughout Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.  We felt this was an important exercise in gathering information about how we can support the sustainable efforts currently practiced by them.  From community centres to theatres and churches, our venues gave us some really useful feedback and also told us of the challenges they face.  Here are some examples of the feedback we received:

Recycling - This is a big part of our venues’ waste management, with glass and cardboard recycling facilities at some.  Some strongly discourage the use of single use plastics.  Some, however, are economically challenged in this respect, reporting that councils charge large amounts to collect extra waste and is therefore just not financially feasible for the venue to do so.

Heating - If any of our venues are lucky enough to have access to a council climate change grant, improvements to heating and insulation such as secondary glazing for windows, draft excluders and roof insulation, can have a very positive, long-term impact.   Some try limiting the use of electricity as much as possible for heating/air cooling.  Some of our venues have high ceilings and these are difficult to heat efficiently.

Lighting – LED lighting features in some of our venues.  Hirers like us, are encouraged to switch off unnecessary lights and to turn off lights when they leave the building.

Awareness – Some venues feel that they ‘do what they can’ to practice effective energy saving.  Some feel that hirers don’t respond responsibly to signs and polite requests which must be very disappointing, despite their best efforts.

What we can do to help our venues – Use recycling facilities if available or take our recycling home with us.  Keep doors closed when the heating is on.  Turn off lights and electrical equipment when they’re not in use or needed.  Shop smart and steer clear of single use plastics.

From recycling to keeping our carbon footprint in check, Music24 takes responsibility for it’s duty of care for the planet and to help others to do so too by raising awareness and encouraging our community to be proactive in reducing our environmental impact. 

Ain't No Mountain High Enough - The Three Peaks Challenge!

Music24's team are showing love for our charity by attempting the colossal #ThreePeaksChallenge to mark our 10th Anniversary this year.

This is the biggest and hardest team challenge we have taken on yet. With determination and ambition helping to overcome the aching legs and tired feet, training is currently underway in the little spare time that the team possess!

Please wish the team luck and consider supporting their fundraising efforts by donating today! Every penny counts.

For more information, challenge updates and to support, click here.