Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. On 21 May 2006 I completed the Blenheim (wet, cold, muddy) Sprint Triathlon to raise funds for Camberwell Choir School (CCS) a small but great children’s charity.  Please dig deep for the children and sponsor me online.

Please give generously to help CCS continue helping the children of Camberwell.  Your donation can make a big difference to us.

If you want to know more about CCS read on. 

Camberwell Choir School is an out of school creative arts project for disadvantaged children and young people in the Camberwell area.  At CCS they can learn

- instruments, piano, guitar, violin drums,

- singing, 

-  improvisation 

- composition 

in an informal and fun environment. We recently had some small funding for healthy eating related projects.  There are a number of songs concerning fitness-freak apples composed by the children as a result!

Its aim is to unlock the creative potential of children who would otherwise have limited access to the arts.  This helps them to grow in self-confidence and start on a life long participation in the arts.

Involvement in the arts encourages imagination, self-expression, self-belief and communication.  These qualities are central to a person’s belief that they have a place in the world, and to the motivation to achieve in life.  One study found that participation in arts projects gives young people the resources not just to work in the arts, but also the engage in society as a whole. 

I have been a volunteer guitar teacher in this project for about 15 years now.  I have seen some of these children grow into adults and some return to teach and assist.  The difference to their lives is profound.  They learn the value of being able to achieve and the confidence to perform in front of audiences.  I have seen very withdrawn children start to interact confidently and to value themselves for what they can do, rather than relying on any label placed upon them by the education system, their peers or families.  

The children who come to CCS are from a particularly deprived area of South East London.  The majority of the households in the area are on council estates.  Many would be considered socially excluded.  The statistical indicators of deprivation are all well above the national averages. 

The council housing they live in consists mostly of high-rise flats on large estates.   Often these estates are not safe.  The work we do at CCS enables children to explore the world while having fun in a safe environment. 

Research in the UK and abroad suggests that music learning has a positive effect on attitudes to learning, academic performance, and in particular numeracy.  However music and the arts tend to be pushed aside due to pressures on limited curriculum time and due to the national literacy and numeracy strategies.  CCS targets this problem for local children and because it is not constrained by curriculum pressures enables children to enjoy the process of learning.

There is a rich ethnic mix in South East London.  30% of local people come from ethnic minorities (in particular the Carribean and African communities).  CCS reflects this cultural diversity in its music, themes and outlook.  So a wide variety of music is taught coming from around the world.  The children are taught in an innovative way, encouraging them to have creative input as well as learning the discipline of working with established repertoire. 

We have organised special events such as trips (e.g. to the National Theatre) or workshops with visiting specialists (e.g. an African drumming day).  CCS children have taken part in local and national arts events, such as Camberwell Arts Week and BBC Music Live. 

In September 2006, CCS will have been running for 16 years as a creative arts project for the children of Camberwell.

Why is CCS asking for support?

CCS is a registered charity and the members of its management committee are drawn from the local community.  It is run by a part time Director, who is supported by a part time administrator, tutors and volunteers. 

We need an termly income of just £3,000 to provide the opportunities that CCS currently offers to local children.  With more, we could obviously do more.  The majority of this budget is for the fixed costs of staff (the majority of which is direct contact time with children), hall rental and maintenance of instruments and other teaching resources.

CCS has been very successful at attracting support from grant making trusts, including large donors such as BBC Children in Need.   

We are now working very hard to raise the funding we need to ensure the project’s continuation, and are applying for funding from the sector of grant making trusts that has supported us in the past as well as exploring new sources.

We are also developing plans to make CCS more self-sufficient.  Our patron, the opera singer Sir Willard White, has given us his support for fundraising and will be giving a benefit concert later this year. 

However all these measures take time to come to fruition and we are facing an interim funding crisis.  There is a risk that CCS will not survive unless funding can be found to support the project over the next few months.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Camberwell Choir School will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
So please sponsor me now!
Many thanks for your support.

Declan