Help keep inclusive music alive in York

Aim

Help protect 40 years of inclusive music, creativity and friendship in York. Your donation could give AAM a sustainable future

Help keep inclusive music alive in York

For more than 40 years, Accessible Arts & Media (AAM) has brought people together through music and creativity. We provide welcoming, inclusive opportunities for disabled people, people experiencing mental ill-health and others facing barriers to participation to express themselves, build friendships and feel part of their community.

For many, AAM is much more than a weekly activity. It's a place to belong, to be heard, to develop confidence and to spend time with friends.

But this community is now at risk.

Following the loss of vital anticipated funding, AAM has faced significant financial challenges. We temporarily paused activities while our Trustees reviewed the charity's position and explored options for its future. Sessions are now beginning to restart, but we urgently need support.

We're aiming to raise £40,000 by Christmas

Your donation could help protect the inclusive music, creativity and friendships that AAM has spent over 40 years building.

It will also give us vital breathing space to secure new funding, develop partnerships and explore a sustainable future for the charity.

What could your donation help provide?

• £10 could provide creative materials for an entire IMPs session.
• £20 could provide sensory resources to help engage people with additional sensory needs.
• £50 could help fund a new backing track for an original Hands & Voices song.
• £100 could support a specialist small-group music session for people unable to access larger group activities.

Every donation, whatever its size, could make a real difference.

We are more than the music

Last year alone, 181 people took part in AAM's core programmes, including 61 new participants. We delivered 650 sessions, creating more than 2,100 opportunities for people to connect, participate and create.

And participants tell us just how much it matters:

• 100% said taking part makes them feel happy.
• 100% said they enjoy meeting and spending time with other people.
• 84% said taking part helped them feel more confident.

But numbers only tell part of the story.

Hear directly from our participants about the friendships, confidence, creativity and sense of belonging they find at AAM.

Your support can help shape our future

AAM is a small charity with a big impact. Our immediate priority is to protect the activities, specialist people, accessible spaces and resources that make our work possible.

But we're also looking beyond the immediate crisis.

Our Trustees and staff are working to identify a sustainable way forward, including securing new funding, developing partnerships and exploring how AAM could operate differently in the future.

This appeal is about more than keeping our doors open in the short term. It's about giving AAM the strongest possible chance of a sustainable future.

We also want to be open about the uncertainty we face. Reaching our fundraising target would not, by itself, guarantee AAM's long-term future.

Donations will support AAM's charitable activities and essential running costs, including the work needed to explore and implement a sustainable future. If continuing as a charity ultimately isn't possible, any remaining funds will be used, where legally permitted, to support our charitable purposes, including an orderly transition or closure.  We will ensure that all funds are used in accordance with applicable charity law and our charitable purposes.

Help us write the next chapter

If AAM has brought joy to you or someone you love, if you've seen the difference our work makes, or if you believe everyone deserves access to music, creativity and community, please consider donating today.

Every donation matters. And if you can't donate, sharing our appeal could make an enormous difference.

Please help keep inclusive music alive in York.

Thank you for standing with AAM.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 7th January 2027 at 2:12pm