Reports | Child and Sound

 

Chair Person's Report

Child and Sound is a wonderful example of what a few dedicated people can do with little resources but a great deal of belief in helping children and young adults through music and self-expression. Their DJ workshops and music events for at-risk and disabled children clearly make a difference to lives and communities in London.

Their contributions to outdoor summer events for local councils and other organisations bring a real positive breath of fresh air. I only wish I had more time to give to help Owen develop more events and get more financial support for this very worthwhile work.

Project Coordinator's Report

I would like to thank everyone who has been involved with Child & Sound over the past year. In particularly I would like to thank our patron, staff, volunteers, management committee, users, musicians, Park Rangers (Chumleigh Gardens) and Southwark Council staff for their support and encouragement. A special thanks must go to all the organisations that have funded us. I would particularly like to thank the Southwark Children's Fund whose financial support will enable us to increase our service provision.

Child & Sound has continued to participate in a number of activities initiated by local Councils including Greenwich, Merton, Southwark and Redbridge. 2002 has seen a substantial increase in the number of workshops delivered to early years centres. Music workshops for pre school children are an important part of their social and intellectual development. They have proved to be very rewarding for the children, nursery staff and musicians. Child and Sound has continued to deliver DJ skills workshops to youngsters at Warwick Park School and Honor Oak Youth Club, as well as working at new venues including The Post Box Youth Club and Social Action Network.

Easter and summer workshops were organised at Peckham Town Square for the enjoyment of school children during the holiday period. This year has seen an increase in the number of outdoor activities organised across four London boroughs. The Lambeth Country show was particularly successful for Child and Sound with attendance in excess of 1,000 people over the two- day period. As well funding received from charitable trust we have also managed to generate much needed income from hiring out our minibus and Sound equipment to voluntary and statutory organisations.

I look forward to the coming year with enthusiasm and anticipation, there is still much to achieve and new avenues to explore. Many thanks once again to everyone that has contributed to the success of Child & Sound without you the project would not be possible. Special thanks to Sylvia from NSPCC for all her help and support.

Owen Reynolds
(Project Coordinator)

Outreach Worker's Report

This has been another eventful year for Child and Sound. The level of work taken on by us has increased yet our resources are very limited. I have been particularly impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm of our musicians old and new. Child and Sound has continued to achieve a high level of success in the delivery of all our music, Dance and DJ workshops, with many new organisations using our services especially Early Years and Youth Centres.

Future plans include working in partnership with the Lambeth Children's Fund to deliver a programme of music workshops to nurseries and schools, weekly fundraising discos at venues in South London, working in partnership with the Youth Diversity Challenge to deliver services to disadvantaged teenagers and the development of Child and Sound Gambia by continuing to support special needs schools with financial assistance as well as a programme of exchange visits for Gambian and British musicians.

Finally I would like to thank all the organisations that have funder us over the past year. Their support is very much appreciated, without grants and donations Child and Sound would not be able to continue.

Musician's Report

My work this last year has focused again on primarily on early years, using action-based material in a flexible way to maximise children's involvement and to enable them to experience the elements of music in a physical way including the use of simple props. Work of this kind at Happy faces in Peckham led to a performance by the children at the Sojourner Truth community centre to family and friends.

When I resumed music sessions at the Saturday club following its few weeks working with the drama company Chicken Shed, I used the fact that the routine of music sessions had been temporarily interrupted to the groups advantage and introduced musical interaction type material of the kind outlined above. This seems to have led to the group having a greater potential for interaction.

Other work has included: 1. Another successful visit to Chailey Heritage School. 2. Representing and promoting Child and Sound through music at events. 3. A very interesting trip to Bakua and Serrekunda areas of Gambia, working with local musicians and providing music for children with disabilities to join along with schools. This work was voluntary.

Steve Barbe
(Percussionist)