We're absolutely delighted to be able to announce that we have selected and awarded our first ever round of grants! With a total of just under £3000, we are supporting five different projects, each using sound and music to 'unlock the world'. We're very proud.
(And if you're looking to apply in the future, the good news is that we're hoping to have another round of grants in the Autumn - so check out our grants page and follow us on Twitter to be the first to know!)
We'll post details about each of the projects online soon, and we hope to keep you updated about some of them with a little bit of tweeting and blogging. Here's a brief overview for now :)
We're providing financial support to the family of a musically gifted 9 year old boy with a diagnosis of of autistic spectrum condition, who, since having music therapy has started to talk for the first time. Our grant will help cover the costs of a second-hand saxophone to help further his development.
We're supporting Care Network Cambridgeshire with the set-up of two choirs in Wisbech and March for people with Dementia. The benefits of singing and music making for people with memory loss is well documented, and it's great to be supporting projects that have such a spread across the county.
We're part-funding a music therapy school project for children at St Matthew's Primary School who have emotional, behavioural and communication needs, taking place in the fabulous new Music Therapy Centre run by Anglia Ruskin University. These children are unable to access music therapy through their schools because of the cost.
[Some of the grantees with the Dosoco team and advisers!]
We're helping a young girl with Cystic Fibrosis with the cost of instrument hire and lessons so that she can learn the saxophone – acting as physiotherapy for her lungs and helping boost her confidence and morale.
And finally we're part-funding a singing and DVD-production project led by Lifecraft, a wonderful Cambridge charity set up by people with mental health problems. The aim is to boost well-being and self-esteem of all involved, and the DVDs will be on sale at this year's Mill Road Winter Fair, taking a powerful and positive message to the community.
We were really sorry not to be able to fund all the applications that came our way. To those who were unsuccessful this time, we've given feedback on how to improve their applications and we hope to hear from them again in the future. And for those where we weren't quite the right people to help, we've signposted them towards more relevant organisations.
We're now really excited about following the progress of the projects we're supporting, and can't wait to see who applies next time...!