February Newsletter – Musical Youth Foundation

Welcome to the Musical Youth Foundation February Newsletter! Well January flew by like a speeding train and we’re well into February at this stage which means spring is here and summer is on the way so there’s plenty of reasons to be cheerful. I hope 2015 is already proving to be a joyful, exciting and prosperous one for you.

THANK YOU to each and every one of you who made a donation to the Musical Youth Foundation over the last couple of months. As a small (for now) charity we have extremely limited resources (read: no money) so we really and truly appreciate every contribution you make towards our cause. In a world gone mad, where so many people need help it can be difficult to pick just one or two worthy causes – you chose to support the Musical Youth Foundation and your support is making a real difference!  That’s right, your donation has meant that we can continue to help 100 at-risk young people in Ireland access our life-changing music education programmes.

That’s one hundred vulnerable young people who without your support would not have had the chance to learn to play a musical instrument. Let’s just think about that for a minute…think about the impact your decision to support us is having on each one of those individual young lives. Many of the young people we work with don’t get any support or encouragement at home and when they do go to school they are often the ones having their confidence shattered because the academic system is making them feel inadequate. Imagine being made to feel that you’re not good enough…every day!?  How long could you stay strong in those circumstances? How much do you think you would learn and develop in those conditions?

Having the opportunity to be part of the Musical Youth Foundation, attending weekly guitar lessons and practise sessions gives the young people something to look forward to. Being part of a guitar group makes them feel part of something special and they get plenty of encouragement from the teachers and indeed one another. The ripple effect is alive and well. Each one of our students, irrespective of circumstances leaves the lessons feeling positive, confident and capable. Very quickly this new and improved attitude makes academic life and life in general much easier to deal with. The results are astounding, the transformation is unrecognisable and all because you chose to support the Musical Youth Foundation by rewarding us with your donation! It might sound corny but give yourself a pat on the back or a round of applause and let the feel-good karma wrap you in a warm hug…you deserve it. You’ve given these young lives hope and the opportunity to succeed!

Keep the donations coming and tell your friends to get on board too and together we’ll keep changing young lives, helping them to succeed and excel through the proven power of music education and ultimately making the world a better place for young people to grow up in.

What the kids say…

• “I love being part of the guitar group, they’re like my family and I feel so much more confident now in everything I do.” – Alice 13
• “I can’t believe it…I can play the guitar, I never thought I’d be able for it. I wonder what else I can do if I try?” – Jamie 14
• “I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t come to guitar practise every week. It’s the one thing I look forward to every week. Everyone is so nice, it makes me feel happy.” – Sarah 12

Round up…

Although 2014 was a tuff year for fundraising we still managed to provide weekly guitars for kids programmes to 100 vulnerable young people across 7 Music Education Partnerships in Dublin. Hundreds of hours of professional guitar classes, practise sessions and specialist music workshops in singing, song-writing and live performance. 2015 can be even bigger and better with your support. Of course we need your donations but don’t underestimate the value of your words too…tell friends and colleagues about the Musical Youth Foundation, encourage them to become part of our musical family working together to make make a life-long difference to at-risk kids in Ireland and remember #MusicChangesLives!

Winners…

Regular readers will know that we like to have fun and reward your support by giving you the opportunity to win a piece of upcycled musical furniture or a piece of Instrumental Art. We take old broken donated instruments and transform them into unique coffee tables and art pieces and then use them in our quarterly prize draw. For your chance to win, just make a donation!

Congratulations to Mutiny Studios – winners of our Q3 2014 Donor Prize Draw and thanks for sending us the pic of world renowned singer Mr Daniel O’Donnell sitting having tea at our upcycled drum side table! #Cool

Congratulations to Orla Dunlea – winner of our Q4 2014 Donor Prize Draw and the upcycled Marshall Guitar Cabinet Coffee Table.

We’ll be announcing details of our Q1 2015 prize soon – we’re just putting the finishing touches to it! Don’t forget to make a donation to get your name in the draw!

Road Trip…

Over the last couple of months we’ve been busy collecting instrument donations from all over Dublin and beyond. Next week we’ll finally be packing up a van with drum kits, keyboards, guitars, a trumpet and a saxophone and bringing them to our latest Music Education Partner in Galway City – our first project to launch outside Dublin. We’ll take some pics and post them to our Facebook page – head on over and give us a like if you haven’t already done so!

In other news…

We’re working on plans for the 9th annual Dublin City Soul Festival which is scheduled for 23rd & 24th of May 2015. This is our big annual showcase event in Merrion Square Park – two days of amazing live music for family and friends to enjoy and of course a chance for us to collect your donations.

We’ve also got some new festival and event ideas brewing, we’d love to tell you about them now but it’s too soon we need to develop the ideas a little more and work out how to make them happen. Stay tuned though, exciting times ahead!

That’s all the news for now but as always please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’ve got any questions or queries. I’m always happy to hear from you, our supporters!