Charities chime for blind children

Percussion Play, The Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC) and The Amber Trust are delighted to announce their collaboration with the aim to make outdoor musical instruments even more accessible, particularly to young people who are blind or partially sighted.

A workshop is to be held in April at the RSBC’s Life Without Limits Centre in London, during the charity’s Easter programme, to discover how Percussion Play’s instruments can be improved and made more accessible for vision impaired children and young people.

The Amber Trust, which provides musical opportunities for blind and partially sighted children, will join forces with the RSBC and Percussion Play at the workshop on 12th April, sharing insight as a charity that supports children with a talent or a love for music.  Amber Music Practitioner, Gennie Joy, will be facilitating the session, guiding children and their families in playing Percussion Play’s Babel Drums, Cyclone, Cavatina, Tubular Bells and much more.  

Percussion Play is looking forward to learning which shapes, heights, colours and finishes are beneficial to people with vision impairments.  There is also the aim for Percussion Play to create a new instrument during this collaboration.

With a diverse selection of musical and percussion instruments, Percussion Play is committed to making musical expression accessible to everyone, everywhere.  Its instruments are designed to be fully inclusive and are enjoyed around the world in a range of settings from hospitals, museums, schools, parks, nursing homes and libraries.

Jody Ashfield, Co-founder, and CEO of Percussion Play said: “We are excited to be working with the RSBC and The Amber Trust to discover how we can make our instruments even more inclusive.  Our instruments are designed so everyone can enjoy making music and we hope to improve our current range by engaging with young people who are partially sighted and discover what changes could be made to make them more accessible. We also aim to design an instrument specifically for people who have vision impairment.  This collaboration will help more people discover the joy of playing percussion in the great outdoors”.

Sue Sharp, RSBC Chief Executive said: “Many of the children and young people we work with have a love of music, whether that is writing and performing their own music, singing, playing a musical instrument, or simply listening to it. Our Life Without Limits Centre often hosts their many musical talents and interests. The chance to influence the design of Percussion Play’s products is a great opportunity and I am sure that the children and young people will have a lot of ideas to share with the Jody and the team.”

Angela Voyajolu, Chief Executive of The Amber Trust said: The Amber Trust is delighted to collaborate with Percussion Play and the RSBC on this project. Music is a vital aspect of play for the children and young people we work with, and this is a wonderful opportunity for them to experience musical play with other children and their families. It is important that the voices and opinions of children with vision impairment are represented, and we are enthusiastic that the young people involved in this project will impact the development of Percussion Play’s innovative instruments.

Findings from the workshop will be announced later this year.