The Reaching Out Network is aimed at project managers, programme managers and anyone else planning and managing inclusive music activity across the North West for children and young people.

As a network, and at More Music, we have been exploring inclusion and looking at how the HEARD model can help us better understand different ways in which we can be inclusive.

Holistic – placing emphasis on personal, social and musical outcomes

Equitable – people facing the biggest barriers receive the most support

Authentic – developed with and informed by the people we do it for

Representative – the people we work with as participants and colleagues reflect our diverse society

Diverse – all musical genres, styles, practices are valued equally

This has also shaped our discussion about how ‘inclusive’ isn’t just avoiding being ‘exclusive’ but is about investigating how we can actively seek ways to keep our projects accessible. This has also informed discussions with our trainees about the work we deliver.

Working with Brighter Sound, we built on the work from our most recent Reaching Out conference about inclusion, called ‘Unheard Voices’. We reconnected with some of the speakers, and with new facilitators, to make a series of films, each of them focusing on one of the sections of the HEARD model.

Reaching Out is a partnership project with Brighter Sound. Ashley Murphy from More Music and Lucy Wallace from Brighter Sound have been co-ordinating the meetings for the past 3 years which have brought together over 50 organisations. This continued through lockdown on Zoom where the numbers actually increased as it was easier to access online than travelling to meetings.

If you’re interested in joining the network they currently meet on zoom. Click here for the next meeting.

Scroll down for the films from Phill, Cee, Sam, Ruby-Ann, Cath and Sarah