Darnall Dementia group singing sessions

We are proud to announce our latest grant to a local Day Care Group, Darnall Dementia

Darnall Dementia group provides day care for people with dementia.

 The grant will go towards providing singing sessions once a month, when an external provider comes to the Day Centre. The sessions are very popular with their clients and provide respite for their carer’s. The songs are tailored to the preferences of the clients (it's a broad spectrum from traditional songs to nursery rhyme type songs right through to The Clash!!). The songs often get some clients up singing and dancing, while others like to just sit and listen - so they are very important for their physical & mental wellbeing as well as triggering memories from a time before they had dementia. One of their clients commented that “she loves it at the Day Centre & that it is a place where you learn to be happy”. A carer commented that “she now has time when she doesn’t have to worry about her mum & isn’t constantly on edge”. The local authority during Darnalls annual review in April commented that “”the Day Centre atmosphere felt like a family get together”. If you would like to find out more please visit: www.darnalldementiagroup.co.uk

The Joy of Making Music Together with The Body of Sound Choir

Body of Sound is an amazing non-profit women's choir. It’s been active in Sheffield since 1997. They make beautiful music and use it as a tool to raise awareness and support significant causes that have an impact on many people's lives.

We are proud to give this choir a grant in support of their mission to inspire change and promote inclusivity. The choir has also shown their support for the Scholarship Fund for Palestinian Women, proving that they're not just about making great music but making a positive impact in the world too. 

Our Grant will offer a window for women who want to join but are unable to pay due to being unable to work, perhaps a disability, being in the process of applying for asylum, or having refugee status. This grant will provide a bursary membership opportunity, assisting in expanding the opportunities available to women who love to sing and be a part of the musical community.

As The Body and Sound Team shared with us, 

"As a choir, we at Body of Sound are aware of how powerful music can be in healing the mind,. body and soul. We come together to sing and celebrate connection; to our city and to each other. The music that we sing reflects our values and connects us with people all across the city from various cultures and communities. We believe that the power of music and the connection that it creates should be accessible to all, regardless of their financial status. The grant from Sarah Nulty Power of Music Foundation will allow us to support members who may not otherwise be able to afford our annual residential weekend away. This annual weekend has been described by members as the highlight of the year. A restful break away to relax, spend time together and of course, sing in a beautiful setting. Thank you to Sarah Nulty Power of Music Foundation for helping us keep the power and connection of music alive”  

If you are interested in joining the choir or seeing Body of Sound perform, check out their website here.

If you're able to see them perform live in Sheffield it is a fantastic opportunity to not only hear some excellent music and donate to a worthwhile cause, but also to witness the transformative power of music in forging bonds of community.

Tramlines T-Shirt Competition & Grant Update

The Sarah Nulty Power of Music Foundation has some exciting developments they want to let the people of Sheffield know about...

Firstly - do you want to win Tramlines Festival tickets for the whole three days? Of course you do! The foundation has two tickets up for grabs as part of their 2023 Tramlines Charity T-Shirt design competition. Budding artists are being invited to create a one off new design which will go on sale at Tramlines alongside their existing merchandise. You’ve all seen the Be More Nulty heart logo designed by local artist Tom J Newell, right? Imagine seeing your design up there alongside it!

You have complete creative freedom, the only stipulation is to include either "Be More Nulty" or "The Sarah Nulty Power of Music Foundation" in your design. The charity encourages entries from everyone so don’t be put off if you’re not quite Tate Gallery ready! All profits from sales will go towards the foundation, raising money to support people in Sheffield through the power of music. So get creative, help out a local charity, and win!

For more information and to enter, visit: tinyurl.com/TShirtDesignComp

Deadline 15th June 2023.

The charity is also proud to announce that they can now offer grants of up to £2000. If you don’t already know, The Sarah Nulty Power of Music Foundation provides funding to support individuals and organisations in Sheffield, who through music, make a positive difference to the lives of local people. Until now, grants have been limited to £500, so the new, larger grants are a significant step forward in the level of funding that the charity is able to provide.

Chair of Trustees, Julie Voisey, says “By being able to provide larger grants, we hope that individuals or organisations with a vision they feel might be a bit too financially draining or out of reach, can now access that chunk of funding they need in order to realise their idea or project. We really hope that by offering this extra level of funding, more local people can be reached, and helped, by the transformative power of music”.

Sheffield Music School has already been a recipient of one of the new grants. The funding has been used to start a new project via its Tracks programme, “A Place Called Home”. The project runs weekly and invites Ukrainian refugees aged 12-16 to take part in music classes, workshops and lessons. The great feedback so far -  “Dima was so impressed and excited! It’s amazing! Thank you so much for this opportunity!” - is testament to what can be achieved by having access to a larger funding pot.

The larger grants are limited and are offered on a quarterly basis. The first round is open now until 30th June 2023. The smaller £500 grants continue to be available on a year round rolling basis. You can check your eligibility for a grant by visiting The Sarah Nulty Power of Music Foundation website at www.thesarahnultypowerofmusicfoundation.co.uk .

Brightside Music CIC and St. Luke's Hospice

We are delighted to have been able to give a grant to Brightside Music for a project that aims to offer three music sessions to people accessing services at St Luke’s Hospice and Clifford House. At the hospice they focus on social and peer support to combat loneliness and isolation through a range of activities including exercise, crafts and music.

Patients and their families benefit through the uplifting and fun nature of music and engage easily with more clinical support and discussions on advanced care planning. In terms of supporting people who have been bereaved, this activity will improve confidence and build support from others to help them move forward.

This project offered three music sessions to individuals accessing services at St Luke’s Hospice. Two sessions took place at the Clifford House Site as part of their Patient and Family Support Service.One session took place at the main hospice building (Little Common Lane), providing music for inpatients, their families and staff.Sessions gave participants the opportunity to relax in a safe space and explore their creativity. 

Participants said:

“It was beautiful, great session and fun. Thanks!”                                                                     

“I loved joining in with the instruments provided.”                                                                          

“A great laugh, really cheered me up.”                                                                             

“Lovely music and loved be able to join in.”                                                                      

“Really had fun, loved the frog instrument.”                                                                               

“I forgot about my problems and smiled lots, that means a lot to                                                 

“It was so nice, soothing and enjoyable. Thank you both.”                                        

“Absolutely lovely”                                                                                                                

Staff said:                                                                                                                         

“Becky and Aisling provided a great, fun and interactive session. The use of instruments meant everyone could join in regardless of their impairment or language.”

 “Our ladies from the Gupshup group (chitchat in Urdu) really enjoyed [it] as English is not their first language and they struggle to join in with singing groups due to this. Brightside made them feel so welcome and involved.”                                                                                                     

“It was lovely to hear the music through the building and the smiles afterwards showed everyone had a great time.”

St Lukes Sheffield Hospice said:

“Your sessions are so loved by our Patients, families, staff and all of us here. Thank you so much for your support”                                                                                                                    

Becky at Brightside Music commented in their evaluation:

“It has been hugely rewarding and valuable to both ourselves and our partners and participants at the hospice. Thanks so much for working with us and supporting what we believe to be a crucial part of society. We hope that Sarah would have been proud.”                                    

To find out more about Brightside Music CIC follow them here website.

Opera On Location

We are excited to announce a grant to fund Opera on Location. Opera on Location (OoL) is committed to engaging as many people as possible from communities across in Sheffield; displaying that opera is for everyone, popping up in places you least expect. The beneficiaries of OoL include a wide range of individuals including; young opera singers at the beginning of their professional careers, or those who require additional stage experience; under 18s attending one of our engaging workshops and experiencing opera for the first time; adult audiences who thought opera wasn’t for them until they stumbled upon one of Opera on Location’s free performances, were unexpectedly moved by the music and have been hooked ever since; to the opera lovers of Sheffield who are grateful to have a homegrown professional opera company as part of Sheffield’s rich cultural tapestry. The beneficiaries of the proposed workshop will primarily be the students and teachers who attend the events. The feedback sheets that were completed after our workshop in 2018 all praised the event for its innovation, exceptional singing and in particular the engaging and educational mastery of Nigel Simeone. We are confident that running the event on a larger scale will only benefit more young people and give them the opportunity to improve their understanding of this critical material within the exam.

.2023 marks the ten year anniversary of Opera on Location. For this year the organisation plans numerous events to celebrate 10 wonderful years of being Sheffield’s only professional opera company and to cement itself as a permanent fixture within the city not only as a producer of innovative and high quality operatic performances but also as a leader of music education. The first of our events, scheduled for early 2023 will be an extended version of our recent and hugely successful pilot workshop of The Marriage of Figaro. The feedback OoL received regarding the 2018 workshop and performance was exceptional and although we are three years on the A Level Music syllabus remains unchanged, it is the perfect time to repeat our previous success and build upon it to make it even more beneficial for the students and teachers that take part. The workshop (which will be free of charge) will include discussion and detailed exploration of the vocal works featured as set pieces for A-Level. Complete with professional opera singers providing live musical examples and working with the students creates a very unique and special project, in addition to providing an opportunity for students to hear live opera, likely for the first time.

Supporting Sheffield Schools through the Power of Music

Bradfield School Sheffield

We are delighted to offer a grant to Bradfield school to enable them to put on Music Workshops for vulnerable and Pupil Premium students during school holiday.

To run the workshop in February Half Term 2024, they require a number of specialists to help to develop a scripted performance that enables students to have access to every theatre element. The students will be asked to pick from one of the following over the three- or four-day workshop to focus on: 1- Performing - including singing workshops 2-Performing - acting, Script writing and directing 3-Dancing - dancing workshops for performance Composition and 4- instrument performance - learning how to compose on music software Designing elements of theatre - costume, set and lighting. They will be putting together a document to explain the costing as well as benefits and successful outcomes of the project in due course, so check out their web page.

Mossbrook Special Primary Needs School

Mossbrook Special Primary Needs school in Norton provides specialist education for 134 children aged between 4 and 11 years old. Much time is devoted to ensuring that barriers to learning are reduced for pupils as far as possible, focusing on sensory processing activities. Music is a big part of life at Mossbrook School, with all children having music lessons each week. The school was awarded a grant to buy a new keyboard for the school. 

 "Music is an integral part of our children's experience and learning. Many children recall language from songs, and we use music to support transition throughout school, for example, lunchtime songs, singing the timetable/register and home time songs. This allows the children to understand what is happening now and next as the songs used are repeated throughout the week. 

 To keep children across the school safe, during 2020, we began to have music lessons within classrooms and the shared music space. Our old, large keyboard with broken wheels was tough to move around the school, and so we requested a grant to pay for a portable keyboard to support our music lessons and whole school performances.”

Lowfield Primary School

Lowfield Primary School is a school in the heart of the Sheffield community that celebrates its bright and diverse team of staff and pupils.

The school was awarded a grant to provide music lessons in order to give the most vulnerable children at the school the opportunity to learn to play an instrument. The aim of the music lessons are to increase the wellbeing of the children at the school, go above and beyond the national curriculum level of music and improve communication skills.

St John Fisher PTFA

St John Fisher is a small Catholic School in Sheffield, The PTFA helps with fundraising to help the school provide extra resources for the pupils. They run social events for parents/carers and children, providing an opportunity for people to meet and get to know each other and have fun. They also provide support for school trips and outings and other special events.

As many of the children at the school are not able to access opportunities to learn a musical instrument we supported them through a grant to provide musical instruments for the school. The school has begun singing lessons after school, and it’s been exciting  to introduce a range of musical instruments to support these lessons.  

Sheffield Music School 

Sheffield Music School is a charity that runs on a Saturday morning and in school holidays. They have a number of classes that cater for various genres including jazz, classical, pop, rock and rap. They are dedicated to providing free provisions for those who have a passion for music and would otherwise be unable to attend. 

We recently awarded a second grant to the music school to continue to build confidence and help a group of female students use their ideas and talents to form bands and write songs as a team. The students were committed and talented and needed financial support to continue to work on their technical knowledge and grow as musicians. 

 “Being able to work with our young women to help excel their musical talents is so exciting. From watching their singing lessons with Gina Walters to working on production and creating beats, the classes are so creative and important. Without funds like this, many young people are left behind in an expensive and elitist industry which requires huge amounts of money to access one to one training. Our mentors and mentees are telling honest stories through their music and we are so excited for what the future brings.”

Norfolk Community Primary School

Norfolk  Community Primary School is a busy and friendly school, working hard to provide the very best for all. Their school motto is "Working together to be the best we can be." Their aim is to provide all children with a good level of education. To nurture children’s wellbeing and aim to meet all of their needs to ensure they are ready for classroom learning.

The primary school has been developing a sensory space for their Key Stage 2 students, whereby they wanted to improve the space by purchasing speakers and musical instruments for music therapy sessions. We supported the school with a grant to help them achieve their aim of a fun and engaging sensory space. 

Hallam Primary School PTFA

Hallam Primary School is a large, inclusive and welcoming school providing education from 4 to 11 for over 600 pupils. The objective of the PTFA is to raise funds to support the school. They also support the school where we can with their fundraising and other activities. 

The grant enabled the PTFA to give two students at the school the chance to learn guitar for the whole year. This is part of the Pupil Premium which is additional to main school funding and is used by this school to address any underlying inequalities between children eligible by ensuring that funding reaches the pupils who need it most. The grant will further address these inequalities and give two students the opportunity to develop their music skills.  Here is a quote from the boys guitar teacher:

 This past term I have given the boys guitar lessons and have been very pleased with their progress and enthusiasm within their lessons! The discovery of playing music on an instrument has had a positive impact on the boys and has been a pleasure to watch from my perspective. One of them even performed in the summer concert series this year and the both wish to perform next year as well. Getting to know the children and start them on their musical and creative journey has been an absolute privilege of mine.

The boys say:  We have loved learning songs on guitar, especially ‘The eye of the tiger’, performing at the summer concert was amazing and we are so glad that we are going to be able to keep learning the guitar next year.

 If you are a school or organisation in Sheffield looking for support to run musical activities in Sheffield, find out more or get in touch today.

The Steel City Choristers

Are you a lover of music?  Do you appreciate the power of traditional English choral singing? Then you must check out the Steel City Choristers in Sheffield!

This community choir has been bringing the joy of music to the city since the unexpected closure of Sheffield Cathedral Choir in July 2020.  And through their shared passion of music and deep appreciation for the transformative power of choral singing, they unite children and adults fostering a sense of community while striving for excellence in their performances.

We are happy to announce that our grant will be able to provide a bursary to both adults and children on the intensive programme of musical education on behalf of The Steel City Choristers,  as well as benefiting children in school and communities through their popular singing workshops - specifically designed to support the Model Music Curriculum! Not only do they aim to develop musical skills but enhance confidence, emotional resilience, teamwork and concentration skills.  And when it comes to navigating the ups and downs of life, essential transferable skills like these can be a game changer, helping these chortisters thrive and reach their full potential.

The Steel City Choristers are an advocate for the power of music just like us, and believe in the transcendent quality that it brings,  both in a religious and non-religious settings as well as with their multi-age approach it serves as an opportunity for both adults and children to teach and learn from one another. Ultimately creating a more engaging learning environment!

So… if you're looking to be a part of a timeless choir, where its rich history and tradition continue to captivate audiences around the world. Be sure to take yourself and your loved ones along for an out of world experience! Find out more here Steel City Choristers | A charity dedicated to high quality music education for children and young people.

One World Choir Sheffield

We are proud to announce a grant to support The One World Choir Sheffield One World Choir benefits refugees and asylum seekers who have arrived in Sheffield fleeing persecution from a vast range of countries. This includes men and women from many African and Middle Eastern countries and we have recently had a significant influx of Ukranian refugees. There are currently 75 people on the choir Whatsapp group via which they keep in touch with their members. About 25 refugees and asylum seekers attend rehearsals on a regular basis. Secondary beneficiaries include the 15 long term Brtish residents who support the choir as well as the general public who attend the many formal and informal concerts they deliver.

The Choir applied for a grant to pay for a full day workshop led by one of the workshop leaders from the Black Lives Matter Commissioning Project supported by the Natural Voice Movement. They informed us that some of our members and their musical director were very inspired after attending their Annual Gathering last year and they wish to be part of rolling out that inspiration. “We hope that a workshop led by one of the leaders will help people feel part of a wider movement. Ideally we will focus on improving our performance skills which will build the confidence of choir members and enhance the quality of the increasing numbers of performances that we are invited to give. The main benefits of the grant will be: 1) Enhanced emotional and social well being of the whole choir, particularly the asylum seeking and refugee members.The Black Lives Matter Commissioning Project is already achieving great outcomes around bonding people together in song. The choir is already a valuable source of emotional, social and practical support for many members who are struggling either with the anxiety of an uncertain future or the battle to establish themselves in a challenging society after gaining refugee status. A workshop of this kind is an event to look forward to, to enjoy with others, to become more bonded as a community of singers. As such it will bring to everyone the individual benefits of enhanced emotional, physical and social well-being.Also, after the recent influx of many Ukrainian refugees, it is particularly important to maintain the social cohesion of the choir and ensure that that our diversity is something we celebrate and feel part of together. Workshops of this kind are an excellent mechanism for cementing those bonds and ensuring the choir continues to be a place where all members feel at home. 2) Enhanced performance skills of the choir as a whole.The BLM Commissioning Project musical directors are particularly effective at bringing people together in song and enhancing skills in communicating via voice modulation, clapping, swaying, stamping – all aspects of body language that convey feeling to the audience. This will enhance the confidence of our members and ensure the choir performances communicate togetherness, resilience and joy – all qualities that impress and inspire our audiences. 3) Enhanced fund raising potential for the choir. As the quality of our choir performances improves, we anticipate we will continue to be asked to perform at events and will be more confident in requesting payment for such performances. Whilst we have been successful to date in securing short term grants to maintain the choir, we are aware that these may not be sufficient for the long term. Enhancing our ability to raise our own funds via performances is a key component in our sustainability strategy for the long term”