IMPs Turns 10!
We’ve another huge milestone in this bumper birthday year. Our IMPs are turning 10! How ace is that?
In 2012, AAM secured funding from Youth Music and launched our IMPs (Inclusive Music Projects) programme. Since then, we've not looked back!
Initially a weekly music group, IMPs is now a year-round programme of fun, inclusive music activities for children and young people from York and the surrounding area. Every Monday evening of term, we invite disabled and non-disabled young people aged 11+ to come and make music together.
The great thing about our sessions is that you don’t need any previous musical experience to take part! We support everyone to get involved in whatever way suits them, so they can express themselves in their own way.
Our IMPs Programme includes:
• Senior IMPs, a weekly inclusive music group for disabled and non-disabled young people aged 11+
• Junior IMPs, a weekly inclusive music group held in local primary schools for under 11’s
• Inclusive Half-term, Easter and Summer Holiday Clubs for young people aged 5+ and 11+
• Outreach workshops in schools, youth groups and community settings around York.
Our outreach Workshops offer Senior IMPs the opportunity to co-devise and co-lead music workshops in their community. The IMPs have their say in how they’d like the session to be structured. Working on these workshops can also support young people working towards accredited qualifications like Arts Awards and Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
We have similar outreach opportunities for our Hands & Voices Choir. For more information on these and to book one of our outreach workshops, head here.
We asked our IMPs to share the things they’ve got better at, as a result of being at IMPs.This is what they had to say:
‘More confident with new people and situations and sudden noises!’
‘Drawing and talking'
‘Making friends’
We’ve had the privilege of working with some incredible freelance artists and partners over the years, to make our IMPs Holiday Clubs truly unique. With their help, we’ve been able to offer all sorts of interactive, creative and fun workshops for young people. No two are the same, and the young people blow us away every time with their creativity!
How about the time we went on a Storytelling Safari? We took our adventurous IMPs on a two-day music-making workshop to Askham Bryan Wildlife and Conservation Park. The result was a fabulous stop animation piece, complete with drawings and Safari-inspired soundscape. Check out the ace animal adventure here:
Or what about the time our creative IMPs made their own out-of-this-world soundtrack to George Méliès' 1902 silent movie “A Trip to the Moon’? They watched the film and worked together to find out what spacey sounds worked best. We love the result!
Our superstar IMPs have always made a big impact and 2016 was no exception. We were blown away when our IMPs programme won the Equality & Diversity Award at the York Culture Awards. The awards were established by Make it York to celebrate excellence in arts and culture in York, and we couldn’t have been happier to have been recognised.
To make things extra special, our fabulous IMPs were asked to perform at the awards ceremony in York Minster the following year!
We’ve had some fabulous performances from the IMPs over the years – too many for one article! So, we thought we’d share some of our favourites.
There was the time when both of our IMPs groups and our Hands & Voices choirs performed at the National Railway Museum. In 2013, our guys pulled out all the stops and went full steam ahead for Accessible Arts & Media’s ‘Get On Board’ event. It was a fantastic day full of accessible music-making and singing and signing performances.
Catch up on all the fun here:
We loved their performance at this year’s Celebrate gig. It was the first time our participants were able to perform inside together since 2020, so we made sure we raised the roof! It was also the debut public performance by the new IMPs band formed by the young people earlier this year. They bowled everyone over with some ace original songs and covers.
Check them out in rehearsals:
Not satisfied with the stage, our IMPs have also graced the small screen. Back in 2021, they appeared in a short film for BBC Children in Need, who’ve funded the IMPs programme since 2018. We were thrilled to see the gang sharing their talents with the rest of the world.
Take a look, and see for yourself:
Phew – looking back on 10 years really shows how far we’ve come, doesn’t it? Looking forward, we can’t wait for another 10 years of fun, laughter, and inclusive music-making.
We need you to help make that happen.
You can help us lay the foundation for another 40 years of Accessible Arts and Media and IMPs.
By donating today, you’ll be paving the way for more young people to unleash their inner rock star.
Donate today.