1999: Musical Keys

Musical Keys is our first nominated charity. Throughout the year we will be collecting during concerts, bandstands and other events aiming to donate as much as possible to the very worthy cause. Based in Norwhich, it was founded in 1990 by the parents of disabled children who realized that their children responded to music irrespective of their level of disability.

Children with a full range of special needs and disabilities are able to gain new skills and further their development through the use of music in a stimulating, fun environment.

Parents/carers attend with their child and any siblings, they fully participate in the activities using a wide range of materials including percussion instruments, visual aids eg puppets and textured fabrics. Large physio balls, parachutes and Lycra. We use many actions and props often within a theme, such as Autumn, the countryside, seaside, travel, ourselves and food etc. There are opportunities for counting, shape or colour matching, language development, including maths language e.g. up, down, backwards, forwards, smaller, bigger etc. Our songs help to develop speech and a sense of rhyme and rhythms that are an integral part of our language.

For more information on Musical Keys, please visit their website at http://www.musicalkeys.org.uk.

The band has now finished collecting for this year. Thank you to everyone who donated.