For 25 years Soundabout has worked to empower people with severe and profound learning disabilities through engagement with music and sound, and encourage parents, carers and teachers to to the same. Since the Covid-19 outbreak we have been working hard to adapt our services to ensure we can continue to support and engage them in music making whilst we need to suspend our groups and activities that involve bringing people together. This includes our Tuesday and Saturday community sessions, our festivals, Soundabout Inclusive Choir rehearsals and performances as well as our one-to-one music provision.

"Necessity is the mother of invention" and this crisis has inspired us to develop virtual Soundabout sessions for the first time. Our Soundabout Inclusive Choir now meets regularly online, our Soundabout Live! interactive music-making sessions for people of all ages with severe and profound learning disabilities take place twice a week on Facebook (www.facebook.com/soundaboutuk), and we are running our one-to-one sessions for very young children and young adults virtually as well. The charity has also set up a Soundabout TV page on our website where families can access these sessions at their leisure (www.soundabout.org.uk).

We are entirely dependent on donations from individuals, foundations and trusts to keep the charity running, especially during this unprecedented and challenging time. Every penny helps us to work with music to try and unlock the potential of those with severe and profound disabilities. By making a gift to our Soundabout LIVE! Appeal are helping us to keep the music alive for people with severe and profound learning disabilities.

Could you make a donation to keep music alive for people of all ages with severe and profound learning disabilities during the Coronavirus lockdown? Our new Soundabout Live! interactive music-making sessions for people of all ages with SLD and PMLD run at 2pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays on our Facebook page and are also available at www.soundabout.org.uk/tv. We need your help to keep them, and our other online provision, running during this challenging time. Thank you!