Arts charity Create brings craft activities and musical medleys to Southwark as part of interactive music event creative:space!
On Sunday 30 November, award-winning charity Create will fill Henry Wood Hall with the sounds of music and laughter thanks to creative:space, its interactive music event for disabled children and their families. Children and adults will have the chance to sing and dance along to the sounds of internationally renowned concert pianist Derek Paravicini (who is blind and has severe learning difficulties) and one of the liveliest ensembles on the UK Jazz scene, Bad Ass Brass. The accessible morning and afternoon events take place from 11:45am-1:00pm and 2:45pm-4:00pm.
Do you have a favourite song? No doubt Derek will be able to play it! In addition to being able to make song requests, children will be able to enjoy craft activities, making crown masks decorated with sequins, feathers, stickers. creative:space is a truly interactive experience that gives children (and parents!) the chance to get up close to the musicians, feel the vibrations and even try the instruments themselves! A highlight for many will be climbing into the Sousaphone, the largest brass instrument in the orchestra, to have as go!
Disabled children are 13 times more likely to be excluded from school and face social exclusion from everyday activities such as cultural and leisure activities. Barriers that prevent disabled children from accessing the arts include negative attitudes and prejudice, lack of an accessible environment, assumptions about what they can and can’t do, and financial difficulties. creative:space provides a magical music event with an informal atmosphere for families with disabled children, where they are from worry about access, space for movement or being judged.
At a previous creative:space event in September, a parent commented “It was great to see the band walking the floor and intermingling with the audience. Everyone was very good at getting down to the children’s level both mentally and physically. It was wonderfully inclusive of all the young people and adults, regardless of ability.”
Create’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive, Nicky Goulder commented “It’s fantastic to return Henry Wood Hall with our creative:spaceevent. We often see the same faces, and parents tell us that the event allows their disabled children to be free and have fun without worrying about whether they’re being too loud or disturbing others! In the UK, there are 770,000 disabled children under the age of 16 who don’t have the same opportunities to be creative as their peers and I’m proud that creative:space is a truly inclusive event.”
creative:space runs on Sunday 30 November at Henry Wood Hall, Trinity Church Square, London SE1 4HU between 11:45am-1:00pm and 2:45pm-4:00pm. Tickets cost £6 for adults and £4 for children. For more information, please visit www.createarts.org.uk
