Over 1 in 4 children live in poverty in Barnsley. It's a staggering and sad statistic. BYC aims to redress this imbalance and give young people amazing life-changing opportunities regardless of their financial background. The choir runs a bursary scheme to ensure that all children can take part and works hard to fundraise to make this opportunity available to all. We are inclusive and focus on providing the best for these amazing young people - irrespective of their financial backgrounds.
The choir is run by volunteers who received an MBE this year in recognition for their incredible work.
Last year BYC took part in the 2017 European Choir Games in Riga, Latvia. Against all odds it won 4 gold medals and 4 Category Wins against affluent choirs, many of them adult choirs, from across the world.
Clip from Awards Ceremonies in Riga 2017 - Click Here
The choir is now ranked 4th in the World in its category.....it's an incredible story.
World Rankings - Click Here
This summer we are keen to take up to 140 young people for the trip of their lives - they will perform in the world famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Edinburgh on the international stage. This is the largest arts festival in the world and will include over 50,000 performances from groups from across the globe. Our members will perform in the amazing Greyfriars Kirk twice per day and also perform in a number of other venues in Edinburgh. We hope to perform on the BBC stage once again as we did in 2016.
It will be a hugely empowering experience for our children and change their lives.
This project is hugely ambitious. 140 children, some as young as 9 years old, will be accompanied by volunteers and a professional band. This is about inclusion and it's about changing lives. It's also about raising aspirations of those who face significant challenges. We are committed to try and provide the best possible experiences for our children.
We need to raise £50,000 in total to make this project work. We've already made a fantastic start! The children themselves have raised over £18,000 in a number of amazing fundraising efforts including bag packing and a 14 hour, through the night, non-stop 'Singathon' - a night that certainly wasn't for the faint hearted! They are working so hard to raise money themselves and are not wanting pay outs - they just need some help along the way. We have also had some really kind donations from others. We hope that this Crowdfunding Project will help raise £12,000 which will ensure that every child can afford to go.
In return for your kindness and support we can offer a number of rewards for pledges. Please pledge if you can, safe in the knowledge that every penny will go to a very worthy cause. As a registered charity with a track record of success you can be reassured that any pledge will make its way directly to young people who really need and deserve it.
Thank you in advance for supporting our project. It's going to make a massive difference to a group of children who are really deserving of this opportunity.
Mat Wright
