“Seeing how energised our young musicians were while making music together again was a perfect reminder of why this charity exists.”
Orchestras for All (OFA) has released its impact report for 2021-22 as the charity continues its life-changing work in breaking down barriers to music education for young people in the UK.
From taking home the award for ‘Outstanding Musical Initiative’ at the UK-wide Music and Drama Education Awards 2022, to raising £17,000 for its programmes through a heartwarming digital campaign, Music Changes Lives, there’s certainly been much to celebrate.
OFA’s trustee and National Orchestra for All (NOFA) alumna, Joelle, commented: “It’s been yet another eventful year, full of exciting activities, productive meetings and incredible achievements as well as a time of reflection. After coming out of lockdown, we were finally able to return to in-person events, reuniting the young people we work with and inspiring even more music leaders.
“Seeing how energised our young musicians were while making music together again after a long two years of the pandemic was a perfect reminder of why this charity exists and is so needed. Team discussions constantly revolve around ‘what is best for young people’ and ‘what we can do better for them’.”
Read more: Season’s greetings: 12 days of Orchestras for All memories >
Pictured: National Orchestra for All (NOFA) musicians perform live in Nottingham in summer 2022
Alongside growing its team to become truly national, OFA held two live webinars for 91 participants in 2022 as part of its Music Leadership Training programme. Meanwhile, six online events and nine live events took place for its NOFA and Modulo programmes, welcoming 35 Modulo schools and 82 NOFA members.
Learn more about OFA’s three programmes >
With youth leadership at the forefront of OFA’s work, the Youth Board and team of Young Leaders were involved in key decision-making throughout the year, while five inspiring NOFA alumni were engaged to join the team as ambassadors – playing a crucial role in the delivery of OFA’s activity, from logistical to marketing.
Joelle said: “Despite having so much to feel proud of, OFA remains humble and self-critical. This is what drives the team forward and allows them to achieve so much. That’s why over the past year, the charity has introduced dedicated safe spaces and increased the number of wellbeing staff at its events as well as creating ‘pen profiles’ for all young musicians and staff, which highlight an individual’s specific needs to ensure they receive the right level of support.”
She continued: “OFA is an amazing charity that helped us tremendously throughout our adolescence and makes us proud now as adults. Although we’ve reached our final few months as Chairs of the Youth Board, we couldn’t feel more secure in passing the torch on to Chloe Morgan – our newly-recruited Trustee and National Orchestra for All (NOFA) alumna.”
With plans for 2023 already in full swing, OFA is now approaching its first full season of face-to-face musical activity since 2018-19, which will be complemented by online meetings and briefings and a strengthened wellbeing offer to ensure all young people, staff and trustees are fully supported throughout.
On behalf of everyone at Orchestras for All, the team would like to thank all those who were part of the charity’s journey in 2021-22 and look forward to welcoming the next cohort of young musicians and music leaders to its programmes this year.
