Young Derbyshire singers have their voices heard thanks to council funding to the tune of £500

Dronfield Parish Young Voices (DPYV) was only launched in January 2019 but now regularly attracts 35 or more youngsters to the singing sessions on Monday evenings in Dronfield Civic Hall.

They come from nine different schools in the local area and range in age from 7-12.

The group had an early ambition to stage some concerts and were able to do so with a £500 county council Action Grant which funded sessions with a vocal coach, hire of premises and music folders.

The concerts held at the Parish Church in May, June and July were a great success with audiences of over 200 people at each performance.

Rob Aldread, Director of Music at Dronfield Parish Church, said: “I am so proud of what the children have achieved in such a short space of time. They have really grown in confidence and it’s an absolute joy to see them working together and singing their hearts out with the energetic and positive leadership from our vocal coach and conductor, Olivia Shotton.

We were really grateful for the financial support from the Action Grant without which we would not have been able to stage our summer concerts.”

Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Young People Councillor Alex Dale said:

“I met some of these youngsters as they prepared for one of their concerts and was really impressed. It’s a true community activity and I’m so pleased that we were able to support it through our grants scheme. I hope the group goes from strength to strength – they certainly deserve to. I’m looking forward to going to future concerts”.

All children in school years 3 – 7 are welcome to go along on Monday evenings and there is no charge. The sessions start at 5.45pm. Further details can be found at www.dronfieldchurchmusic.com/youngvoices or by contacting Rob at [email protected].

The Action Grant scheme supports community groups across Derbyshire with their activities. There are 2,000 grants of up to £500 to help groups fund projects and events which will benefit their local communities. There are also some larger grants of £5,000 and £10,000 for new projects which offer long-term benefits for local people and promote two or more of the Action Grant themes. The county council has now awarded Action Grants totalling £375,000 to 462 groups across Derbyshire in the first four rounds of the scheme since it launched in May 2018.