REDDITCH’S all singing and acting ensemble Indigo Arts has received a vital shot in the arm via an emergency grant from Youth Music.
Having had to cancel all workshops, events and fundraising activities when lockdown occurred, like many charities, the town’s Indigo Arts faced some difficult decisions regarding their future.
Entirely dependent on income from fundraising activities, performances and donations prospects looked bleak.
In response the ensemble, which has more than 100 children, young people and adults on its books and runs performances and workshops in all areas of performing arts and related technical skills embarked on a social media campaign to raise money to cover the costs of their empty Arts Lab over April and May.
“We were overwhelmed by public support which has now amounted to more than £1,000, as well as an additional £650 from private donations,” said project director Cathy Moss.
Indigo also created ‘virtual choir’ performances which have been released weekly on social media reaching 18,500 views overall.
There’s been a performance dedicated to NHS and key workers and also one to the charity Road Peace, which supports those who have lost loved ones in road traffic collisions.
However it quickly became apparent there would not be a return to ‘normal’ any time soon so Cathy turned to Youth Music – which is funded by the National Lottery and Arts Council England, and was overjoyed to hear they had been successful in their application for emergency funding.
Its grant of £3,567 will cover the cost of the rent and energy bills at the Kingfisher Shopping Centre-based Arts Lab as well as supporting the development and delivery of their online projects through from June until September.
Cathy said: “The support that we have had from everyone has been absolutely amazing.
“It is really important to us that we remain engaged with the community and it has been such a relief to have the emergency funding from Youth Music to ensure we can continue to achieve these things.
To listen to Indigo’s Virtual Choir Videos visit https://www.facebook.com/indigoartscharity or on YouTube here
