The Kindness of Others

We start 2018 with important news that could have a significant impact on our fundraising and operational work. We offer our sincere thanks to Scott Pheby and Mike Osborne for choosing us to be the beneficiaries of their corporate support and charitable focus for the next couple of years. Scott is MD of Phebys Ltd Chartered Certified Accountants based in Huntingdon and along with Mike Osborne is co-Founder of The Fabulous Group. We’re so excited that Scott and Mike have chosen to take the Songwriting Charity under their collective wings and to help shape our future for the benefit of thousands of children and young people across the country. Here’s what Scott Pheby has to say about our relationship:

Phebys Ltd have had many clients in the music business over the years and those of you who know me well will be aware that I’m a big music fan. Through our association with the music industry, I attend the BASCA (British Association of Songwriters, Composers and Authors) Gold Badge Awards each year. I’ve been lucky enough to meet many of my heroes at these events over the years, including Joan Armatrading, Mick Hucknall, Peter Gabriel, Sir George Martin, Sir Ray Davies and Emili Sandé to name but a few.

At last year’s awards, I was fortunate to meet a chap called Nathan Timothy, who was deservedly receiving an award. Following a successful 11-year teaching career, Nathan set up Bullybeat in 2007. These were song-writing and music production workshops for children to express their thoughts on bullying and its effects. He then joined forces with the charity Beatbullying where he worked as their music manager and music practitioner. In 2011, he set up the Nathan Timothy Foundation, better known as “The Song-writing Charity”. Since its formation, the Song-writing Charity team have worked in hundreds of schools, working face to face with over 30,000 children inspiring and engaging them to learn about music and feel good about themselves through the song-writing process.

Unfortunately, due to cut-backs, many schools are now unable to fund these interventions and Nathan, together with his associates who give their time for no reward, are having to increasingly dig into their own pockets to fund ongoing programmes. Consequently, we at Phebys Ltd are keen to help in any way we can. We are organising a big fund-raising event for Easter 2018, on which we’ll be giving more information in the New Year. But, from 1^stJanuary 2018, we will be calling on the generosity of our clients to donate 1% of our fee to this fantastic cause. Phebys Ltd will match your donations pound-for-pound so, between you and us, we can hopefully raise a decent sum of money so that more children can benefit from this programme. To those of you who are supporting our new partnership with this charity, I thank you most sincerely for your help and I’ll make sure that we keep you posted on the impact that your generous contributions have made to children’s lives.

Many thanks,

Scott

The Songwriting Charity is small. Its workforce, though diminutive in number, is highly skilled. Nathan, Ben, Kat, Martin, John & Co are out on a weekly basis in schools and community groups across the country tackling a range of issues, taking in the sights from Bristol to Cheltenham, Sheerness to Cambridge, Warwick to Cardiff, Hertford to Clacton and Dover to London. Every day brings new enquiries and expressions of interest from schools and local authorities. We try hard to generate sufficient funds that will enable us to work with schools and groups up and down the land. Schools are under increasing financial pressure and while all would like to work with us, if we can’t secure a grant to deliver a project, they struggle to buy us in to work with their children. As is often the case, we’d rather work with schools than not, and therefore we go where we’re wanted and worry about the rest later!

We ended 2017 knowing that we had to do much more on the fundraising front if we were going to be able to meet the demand we are facing, and also to develop our own practice and ensure we continue to make available the very best creative opportunities for children and young people. With Phebys’ and The Fabulous Group’s support we are going to be able to achieve this and potentially much more. Thank you, Scott and Mike.

Phebys Chartered Certified Accountants

NT’s Top Ten Songwriting Tips

1. Do it everyday! Have a writing routine and make sure you stick to it. Lately I have got into the habit of writing something at the piano just before dinner – I find there’s something about being hungry that makes me really creative! Saying that, It doesn’t matter where you are. The great thing about songwriting is you don’t have to be at the piano – in fact a lot of my songs were written in the car whilst driving. But this discipline of writing everyday means in time you will have collected a huge volume of songs or song ideas. The best songs will start to make themselves known because you’ll want to keep singing them.
2. Don’t forget your ideas! Make sure you keep a notebook with you at all times. This can be digital or paper or in my case both. When I started writing songs I’d record everything onto a cassette tape but now I use the Voice Memo recorder on my phone. There’s lots of great phone apps – I’ve used one called Music Memos which is very cool.
3. Always be in songwriting mode! Observe the world around you and listen carefully to the things people say and how they say it. Also, your own thoughts, dreams and things you see and hear all around you are rich with potential song ideas, titles, rhythms or melodies.
4. Set yourself a challenge! Be strict with yourself. Write a song in a given time frame. Give yourself a topic to write about. Write a song that has loads of chords in it. Write using 2 chords only. Write a complete song a day for a whole month. If you always write on guitar try writing on piano or another instrument. These challenges will create some interesting songs!
5. Embrace technology! There are so many free music apps available. Try using the music you can create on these as a starting point for a song. It could be a drum pattern or a complete backing track. Try writing a song over the top. If you can afford it buy a drum machine or a synthesiser. See where the sounds take you.
6. Have high standards! Even if you’re doing this for fun ask yourself – Is this lyric the best it can be? Is this melody memorable? Do I like this song? If not, don’t be afraid to rewrite.
7. Experiment! Rules are made to be broken! When you’ve written a song why don’t you try moving the verses around, start with the chorus, make the bridge section longer, insert an instrumental section, try a key change, get rid of the introduction, add an extra bar at the end of the second verse, add a pre-chorus, try slowing down or speeding the song up, try singing it in a different key(higher or lower). Obviously you don’t have to do all of these things all at once in every song, but you can try it!
8. Sing out loud! Try singing the melody out loud. Is it memorable? If you sing it to your friends or family can they sing it back to you easily after one listen? If not, work on it until it’s so catchy they can’t get it out of their heads! Is the melody of the verses different from the melody in the chorus? If not try starting the chorus on a different note – see what happens. Look at the shape of the melody in the verses and make sure the shape of the chorus is different enough to stand out and be memorable.
9. Get rid of words you don’t need! Often you will have a lot of words you don’t need just getting in the way of the singing and melody i.e. just, so, that… Remove them and see what happens!
10. Co-write! Writing songs with others is great fun and can be very productive. But don’t forget to listen to each other and respect them. Don’t go with a blank piece of paper. Take your ideas note book with you. That way you’ll always have something to work from. Recognise a good idea and don’t be upset if your ideas don’t get chosen. It doesn’t mean they’re bad ideas they just may not fit the song you’re working on right now. Be passionate and enthusiastic and write great songs because you love writing and not because you want to be famous or rich!

Whoever You Are

Impossible not to be charmed and impressed by this latest Bully Beat song brought to us by the consistently brilliant young songwriters at Edward Francis Primary School, Rayleigh, Essex. The song deals with a serious issue confronting children and young people today. Whoever You Are is catchy, thoughtful, containing crystal clear messages. The sparkling performances captured in the video ensure the song’s appeal ranges far and wide. We’ve no doubt it will bring a smile to your face and get you tapping your feet, all for the right reasons!

Well done Edward Francis Primary School! You have graduated two cohorts of exceptional songwriters and clued up Bully Beat activists! This year’s Anti-Bullying Week is all about Making A Noise About Bullying – well you guys have been doing that for the last two years (and more) with the Songwriting Charity.

We offer thanks to the Essex Community Foundation and the Angus Lawson Memorial Trust Burns Night Pledge donors for supporting this important project, for playing their part in empowering children through the art and craft of songwriting and helping the world hear what they have to say.

Getting on our bikes to beat bullying

The Songwriting Charity’s very first Nightrider London event is round the corner. Our eighteen Nightriders are primed and ready for the open roads of London. Tooled up with puncture kits, inner tubes, padded shorts, electrolyte tabs, new bicycles, rhubarb & custard gels, water bottles, multi-tools, lights, cameras – ACTION – the team is ready and we are proud of each and every one of them. They have worked hard, trained hard and have been supported by generous sponsors and donors. Team SAMSON are doing an exceptional job! We offer our thanks to everyone involved, especially our sponsors and donors for their support and encouragement. Nightrider London promises to be an exhilarating experience and a night to remember for all involved.

If you receive Google Alerts or equivalent notices about bullying or anti-bullying work and news, you’ll appreciate why we do this work, particularly why we dedicate ourselves to the delivery of Bully Beat (and our many other programmes). Bully Beat is more than a project, a programme, a workshop, it’s an intervention. We are intervening through the intensive, reflective and creative process of songwriting, and aided by the very latest music technology. We are intervening not in a reactive way but in proactive and preventative way. During our workshops, children develop their understanding of bullying through activities and exercises that call on them to reflect on choices they make, the ways in which they behave to one another and the impact those choices can have. Confidence is boosted in a measurable way through participation in singing. We see and document significant positive shifts in children’s pride in literacy work. The benefits and impact are tangible.

Every time a donation is made to any of our Nightrider Bully Beat fundraisers this is the kind of impact you help us have on the lives of children we work with. You should be proud of that. Just look at the infographics below for the proof in our songwriting pudding!

If you haven’t done so already and would like to, please donate to our Nightrider appeal. The more money we raise, the more children and schools we can reach out to. Our team of cyclists deserve the support as do our beneficiaries. Thank you.

   

Statistics drawn from evaluation data collected during workshops facilitated by Nathan, Ben, John, Sarah, Kat, Esther, Amy.

Illustrations by Ben O’Sullivan, Director of Programmes.

Ely workers cycle through the night to beat bullying

The SAMSON Materials Handling Ltd Songwriting Charity Nightrider Team

Workers from SAMSON Materials Handling Ltd in Ely have teamed up with the Songwriting Charity to cycle 100km round London overnight on June 6th to help raise £10,000 to beat bullying in schools.

The funds raised will mean more than 1000 children in primary schools across London, South East and the East of England will benefit directly from participation in the charity’s highly regarded anti-bullying songwriting project, Bully Beat.

Nathan Timothy, Co-Founder and CEO of the Songwriting Charity, said, “We’re very proud to have Terry and his colleagues from SAMSON MH teaming up with us! Bullying is painful, disruptive and damaging to all those affected by it. The idea behind Bully Beat is to get children across the country talking through a network of song, promoting positive anti-bullying intervention, boosting their confidence and self-esteem, some of the very things that bullying behavior destroys. The more we talk about bullying, the stronger the anti-bullying message becomes. When you transform those messages into song, they are amplified and all the more powerful.”

Terry Maley, Services Manager at SAMSON MH said, “I’m happy and grateful to be able to take part in the Nightrider to raise money for the Songwriting Charity. Bullying needs addressing, and I think more so for children who seem to suffer in silence. For the charity to be able to go into schools, and bring these children out of themselves is fantastic, as it shows them that there can be happiness and enjoyment in their lives, and I hope that my small contribution goes some way to help.”

The Songwriting Charity will use the funds raised from the Nightrider challenge to deliver Bully Beat songwriting workshops to schools in and around Ely, and other locations local to where the charity’s Nightrider fundraisers live and work.

About SAMSON Materials Handling Limited:

SAMSON are part of the internationally renowned AUMUND Group, which is based in Germany. For over 40 years, SAMSON Materials Handling have been designing and manufacturing bulk material handling equipment. We are dedicated to providing engineering solutions that are world-class in their concept, execution and delivery. With more than 3,000 installations worldwide, our products are defined by their quality, mobility, flexibility and wide range of application.

About the Nathan Timothy Foundation – Songwriting Charity: The work of the Nathan Timothy Foundation ‘Songwriting Charity’ addresses the emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people using songwriting and music technology. Working from bases in Cambridgeshire, Kent and Gloucestershire, the charity’s Bully Beat songwriting project has been designed to enthuse primary aged children about the process of lyric writing, singing, music arranging and contemporary production whilst promoting a serious anti-bullying message.

To date children’s songs written across a range of the Songwriting Charity workshops have been streamed more than 212,000 times on the charity’s SoundCloud, and their music videos viewed more than 145,000 times via the Songwriting Charity’s YouTube Channel.

You can make a commission free donation to the Bully Beat Nightrider appeal here: https://mydonate.bt.com/events/nightrider2015/200571

Songwriting Charity media contact:

John Quinn, Director of Engagement

M: 07950 022009

E: john@songwritingcharity.org

Preparing for Nightrider 2015

Between now and June 6th, we’ll be pushing out blogs written by some (if not all) of our registered Nightrider charity cyclists. Most of the people taking part are like me (JQ) novices when it comes to cycling and participating in this kind of challenge. There are also a number of seasoned cyclists on our side who have contributed much already in terms of advice, information, hints and tips on getting the most of this experience. Terry Maley, Dewayne Artrey, Fergus Gracey and Nick Lomax, thank you!

Our first contributor is Sarah Willson, Project Accountant, SAMSON Materials Handling Ltd, Ely. Sarah is one of eight SAMSON MH employees including Songwriting Charity Trustee, Sharon Hall, taking on Nightrider to help us to beat bullying this year and beyond. Sarah has started training hard for the challenge and is doing well and shared the following with us, “Ok, chose nice country roads and managed 13.5k. Could have gone further, just didn’t know how far I had gone but quite pleased with that. Saying that not sure bum could handle more. Not sure if I’m going to be able to sit down tomorrow. Ordering padded leggings this afternoon!”

13.5k is a good distance, keep it up Sarah. Don’t forget the old maxim ‘little and often’. Getting saddle time in these early days is vital. I’ve been advised that padded shorts/leggings are also a must have!

Sarah is fundraising for the Songwriting Charity‘s anti-bullying programme Bully Beat. Bully Beat helps children to understand the effect, impact and consequences of bullying, it also helps to build their confidence and improve their self esteem, the very things that bullying can erode and destroy. Parents often tell us by email or via social media just how much Bully Beat has helped their children gain in confidence, and the boost to self-esteem they’ve experienced being a songwriter and recording artist for one very special day!

With your help, we will reach many more children affected by bullying behaviour. Please support us and support Sarah Willson’s efforts by making a donation here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/sarahwillson1

 

 

‘Thinking out Loud’

Children of Queenborough School and Nursery in Kent miming the Ed Sheeran/Amy Wadge Song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ in a special video tribute, part of a school music project, filmed by Nathan Timothy, CEO of the Songwriting Charity.

My Experience with The Songwriting Charity

Thank you Jacqueline Kench for contributing this month’s guest blog about her experience with the Songwriting Charity.

“I’m a Primary School Music Teacher. There aren’t many of us around. I teach only music, in a large Primary School in Bracknell, Berkshire.

In recent months at school, children had been coming to me at lunchtimes having written their own songs. I am fortunate enough to have time each week with a small group of Gifted and Talented children, and had given them enough knowledge about chords for them to write their own songs. One song in particular stood out, and I met with the 9 year old girl who had composed it in a recording studio over the summer to get the track down. You can listen to it at https://soundcloud.com/jacqui-kench/summer-song . It was a fantastic experience for the girl, and gave me a real glimpse into how much children can achieve.

I’ve recently discovered the delights of Twitter. I say recently, actually this was my fifth attempt at ‘getting Twitter’. Anyhow I got Twitter, and found The Songwriting Charity. I was immediately interested, as I am a songwriter myself, and got in touch.

So it was through Tweets and phone calls that I managed to get The Songwriting Charity into my school. They managed to secure some funding (from a company sponsor called Itper), which meant there was no cost to us as a school.

I decided to use the group of Gifted and Talented children, as it is a 2-form entry school it wouldn’t have worked to just choose one class. This way, some children from Years 4-6 all got to participate. And they were rather excited about the prospect of missing normal lessons for the day!

So one Friday in September, Ben O’Sullivan and Kat Marsh came to Wooden Hill Primary. The theme of the songwriting workshop was bullying. The children worked in groups to brainstorm ideas and thoughts about bullying. Kat showed the children how to turn their ideas into lyrics and melodies. The main chorus was ‘Run away, from the violence, run away to get some silence’.

The groups practiced their part until it was time for Ben to record it. One boy can play the djembe (African drum) really well, and his beat was used as the main rhythm of the song. Ben added more drums and keyboard. I have an excellent beat boxer in Year 6, and we made sure his talents were able to shine in the song. Another child loves to rap, and had written a rap section in a matter of minutes! One child was reluctant to work in a group, so we worked with her at lunchtime to record her section, ensuring everyone took part. Ben said he got goosebumps when recording her part, and that is what it’s all about.

Once all the parts of the song had been recorded, Ben started to mix them together to create the perfect song. While he was doing this, Kat and I took the children outside to film some scenes for the music video. The children of course loved this bit!

We only had to wait a matter of hours for the song to be finished and put online onto Soundcloud. Within a few hours the number of people who had listened to it was reaching a hundred. I emailed all the staff and made sure they listened to it too! You can listen to it at https://soundcloud.com/the-songwriting-charity/wooden-hill-primary-runaway

Monday morning it was played in assembly to the whole school, and the children involved stood at the front and were awarded certificates. Only a few days later, the music video was uploaded to YouTube, and it was amazing to watch. I cried!

The video was shown in assembly, by which time most of the children had listened to it so often they sang along to most of it. It is very catchy, and the children as so proud of what they have achieved. It has raised the whole morale of the school.

Since that day, the YouTube video view count is well over a thousand. The children appeared in the local paper, and spoke on BBC Radio Berkshire. I have plans for the song to reach far and wide, as at the end of the day, its message is what’s important.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in the Songwriting Charity, especially Ben and Kat. I know I will keep in touch with the charity and would love to help where I can. They do an amazing job and change children’s lives through music.”

Follow Jacqueline Kench on Twitter: @inspectorMuso

Follow us: @SWCharity

What they say…..

‘This has been the most exciting, stimulating, rich and rewarding day which all young people should be encouraged to enjoy. This day will be remembered for a life-time, reflecting that education should be a dance to great music’.

A teacher’s comment following a Bully Beat PACS workshop in Essex yesterday.

Listen to some of the songs that have been written by children participating in the Positive Assertive Confidence Skills programme in Essex: https://soundcloud.com/the-songwriting-charity/sets/pacs-essexcc-kidscape

 

 

Together We Can Achieve More

A beautiful and very emotive song written by a small group of children from across year groups at Highfield Primary School, Enfield. Thank you to Ms Genia Fussco and the children for a truly memorable day. Such a lovely song, one that resonates on a many levels.

Our work in Enfield is made possible by the support of the Enfield Music Service. Thank you to Mea Jenkins and Kim Hember for their encouragement and financial support. The Enfield Music Service, making music make a difference in partnership with The Songwriting Charity.