BIG GIVE 2025
We were delighted to take part in the 2025 Big Give Christmas Challenge and we’re so happy to share that we have made and surpassed our target!
This amazing £17,030 (£18,000 with Gift Aid) will power our award-winning education and outreach programmes across Bucks, Brent, and Slough in 2026. It enables us to bring our A History of Sound project to over a thousand children at state primaries and special schools who might otherwise miss out on the joy, creativity, and learning that music provides.
We know that when children from every background are given the chance to experience classical music, they gain not only confidence and a sense of belonging, but also essential life skills: teamwork, self-expression, curiosity, and enhanced cognitive development.
Thanks so much to everyone who donated, thanks to our match funders, special thanks to the Reed Foundation for being our champion this year, and thanks to all the facilitators and teachers who work so hard to make A History of Sound happen. If you’d like to join our community of supporters, check out our VBFriends scheme at the following link.
“…the most impactful visiting group we have ever had in school…”
Teacher from Heritage House Special School
“It was the best day I loved it… Super duper amazingly fun… Fantastic, amazed…”
KS2 Children
ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN
The Big Give Christmas Challenge is a special national fundraising campaign where donations are doubled at no extra cost to you.
Each year, charities like ours can apply to be part of the campaign. Only a limited number are selected. If chosen, we are given a unique Big Give campaign page and a pot of matched funding. We are grateful to the Reed Foundation for matching our funds this year.
During the challenge week, every £1 donated to us through our Big Give page is matched with another £1, until the matched funding runs out. This means your donation has double the impact.
Our campaign will go live at 12pm on Tuesday 2nd December and will run until 12pm on Tuesday 9th December. During this time, your support can go twice as far and help us raise vital funds for our work.
A History of Sound is our flagship education project since 2022, supporting children and teachers on their musical journeys. The KS2 version of the programme consists of:
★ An interactive show (c. 50 minutes)
★ A workshop session (c. 40 minutes)
★ A teaching resources pack (c. 6 lessons-worth of content)
Four Agents of S.O.U.N.D. are tasked with exploring sounds on planet earth from 4.5 billion years ago up to the time of J. S. Bach and beyond, singing, playing and demonstrating as they go! The Junior Agents (students) help the facilitators to…
★ Explore all the weird and wonderful sounds created in nature on planet Earth
★ Find out just how important verbal and non-verbal sounds are to animals & humans (oOOo…)
★ Understand the physics of sound, voices, and instruments
★ Travel back in time to meet four historical visionaries integral to the development of music; altogether they figure out how to make and read music!
In November 2024 we collaborated with specialist Ben Sellers and Heritage House Special School in Chesham to adapt this programme for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. We delivered 7 sessions across 2 days, working with 48 young people with a huge range of needs from across the school. We have continued to develop relationships with special schools since this initial programme.