Children supporting children

When thinking about how to encourage support for Musequality, we wondered if we could persuade children in the developed world to support children in the developing world. Having experienced first hand (as parents) resistance from children to keep practising, we thought that practising while raising money for others might solve two problems at once.

There was no guarantee children would be inspired but the schools which have taken part have found that running a sponsored music practice does capture children’s imagination. It also engages staff without turning it into a chore for them - and leads to renewed interest in the music curriculum.

For ideas of what you could do, read about what four schools have already done:

Straightforwardly successful

Pupils aged between six and 10 at Kew College, Kew, Surrey took part in our first ever sponsored music practice. Pledging to practise their musical instrument, or sing, for anything from 10 minutes to an hour a day, they asked family, friends and neighbours to sponsor them – for Musequality. Some performed, for their sponsors, at the end of their practice fortnight.

To kick-start the event at the school, David Juritz gave a short presentation about Musequality, and a performance of Ferdinand the Bull, at assembly. The school has adopted Musequality as one of its charities of the year and has already raised £1,800 – the equivalent of the cost of six clarinets or four month’s teaching time in Africa.

A huge thank you to everyone who took part, their sponsors, the teachers and other pupils who have raised money in other ways – and especially for agreeing to be the first to pilot our idea.

Staff take to the stage

On Sunday, 24 February 2008 teachers at James Allen’s Saturday School for the Performing Arts (JASSPA) in Dulwich, south London, gave a sell-out concert to launch their sponsored music practice. Eighteen teachers took part and the concert raised over £800 (the equivalent of 32 music stands and four guitars, or three violins and spare strings). A wonderfully varied programme reflected their extraordinary range of talent: from well-known classics to contemporary pieces composed by two of the teachers. Rossini arias, piano duets, guitar duets, chamber music, a stunning flute solo and a compelling improvisation were all capped off with three numbers from the JASSPA Big Band. Cellist Bettina Lawrence’s performance of The Swan, sponsored at 10p a note, raised over £300 – a noteworthy performance in every possible sense of the word.

The children sat on low benches at the front – in rapt attention. Listening to their teachers play to illustrate a point was nothing new but seeing them perform on stage was a novelty. Family, including older siblings, sat behind. JASSPA wanted the concert to be accessible by all so tickets were £1; about 220 people came. During the interval tea and wine (provided by the school) plus biscuits, cakes and canapés (baked by volunteers and supporters) were available for £2 (adults) and £1 (children). We discovered that you can never have too much iced chocolate cake. It went in a flash; younger crestfallen faces could not be tempted to try sophisticated flavours or plainer cakes so, if you are thinking of organising something similar, take note.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone at JASSPA, especially Beverly Sizer for all the energy she put into organising the event. Thank you, too, to Mrs Marion Gibbs, headmistress of James Allen’s Girls’ School (JAGS), for making the school hall available and providing interval refreshments. And, of course, to all the performers: Liz Richards, Andrew Blakemore, Andy Hedges, Martin Kolarides, Horace Cardew, Ivo Stankov, Nicki Phillips, Carolyn Herail, Hannah O’Hora, Jim Howard, Martin Allen, Bettina Lawrence, Archie Henderson-Cleland, Robert Juritz, Vicky Cowles, Charlie Hodgkiss, Peter Spring, Steve Thompson, Mica Corliss – they were sensational. Now it is over to the pupils to take inspiration from their teachers to … get practising! (Photography by Nobby Clark.)

Dressing down drums up donations

Pupils at the Arts Educational School in Chiswick, west London, held a mufti day (giving donations for the privilege of wearing their own clothes) and collected for us during their music concert, held one not-so-cold evening in February 2008. Unable to resist the busking bug, David Juritz would also like to thank all the concert-goers who tossed money into his violin case while he played to them as they arrived.

Offering studio space and recording skills

Thank you to St Paul's School for allowing David Juritz free space for recording the On the Street CD for his Round the World and Bach busking tour.