Help Save The Aloud Charity
At a critical time of financial uncertainty, help raise £150,000 to save both the Aloud Charity and our famous Only Boys Aloud choir.
This is an urgent appeal to protect The Aloud Charity’s future. Only Boys Aloud, which has supported more than 6,500 boys since we launched in 2010, needs your support today. With your help, we can raise £150,000 and save our charity.
Only Boys Aloud is the only free choir provision for young men in the country, and without funding, this provision will be lost. Not only is it a free resource for boys in Wales, but it is non-auditioned and provides a safe space for participants to find friends and grow into brilliant young men.
We have years of experience and evidence to show that our activities build confidence, self-esteem, skills for future, open career pathways, and enhance mental wellness in young men.
We, like so many other arts charities, are struggling. The changing economic and funding climate has hit us hard.
Despite the best efforts of a committed and knowledgeable team, we’ve been unable to raise the necessary funds this year for our vital work in communities across Wales. As a result, we’ve had to make the heart-breaking decision to pause all our regular free activity for young people of secondary school age and reduce our dedicated team to half its size.
In this pause, we are determined to regroup, refocus and remodel Aloud for long term sustainability.
But we can’t do it alone – we need your support. To restart any activity in the autumn, we need to be sure we have the money in the bank to realise our ambitions and honour any commitments we make.
About The Aloud Charity
- We were established in 2012, following the success Only Boys Aloud had on Britain’s Got Talent.
- Our aim is to inspire and encourage young people to sing together.
- Our most famous and long-standing project is Only Boys Aloud, but we also work with younger children and girls across Wales. It costs over half a million pounds a year to deliver our projects, and we fundraise this from scratch each year.
- Our fundraising comes from a mixture of donations, grants from Trusts, sponsorship, earned income (e.g. ticket sales) and public funding (government/Arts Council Wales project funding).
- We are a small team of 6 (meet the team link?) and have a small office in Cardiff.
- All our Choir Leaders are professionally trained and are paid for their excellent quality of work.
About Only Boys Aloud
- OBA was set up in 2010 to sing a ‘one-off’ performance in the Eisteddfod, the famous Welsh Arts festival.
- All our weekly rehearsals, activities and events are free for participants to take part in.
- We don’t audition – we are non-judgemental and anyone is welcome to join.
- Our traditional Welsh songs are often the most popular with our audiences, but we also sing a broad range of styles including musical theatre tracks and pop music.
- There are currently over 150 boys in the choir, made up from local groups across Wales. Since we started, we have had over 6,500 participants!
- Of course, OBA is all about singing and exciting performance opportunities, but we also pride ourselves on offering safe places where young men can be themselves and have fun. OBA provides positive role-models, builds confidence, improves wellbeing, teaches values of respect and diversity and fosters lifelong friendships.
How the money we fundraise is spent
We work hard to fundraise to cover the cost of everything our participants need, and raise over half a million pounds a year to deliver our activity. The money we raise goes towards:
- Paying our talented, professional team of choir leaders to run weekly rehearsals and performances.
- Venue hire fees for weekly rehearsal and residentials.
- Expenses for hosting concerts and performance opportunities, such as technical equipment, stage management and venue hire.
- Music tracks, sheet music and equipment (including learning tracks, dyslexia-friendly sheet music, speakers and keyboards).
- Employing our small team of committed staff.
- Keeping our Only Boys Aloud choirs free.
Read Brynley's story
Brynley, who lives in Pontypridd is currently in year 10 studying for his GCSEs at Ysgol Garth Olwg. His older brother was a member, and memories of sneaking into the end of practices to watch his brother perform was the key reason he joined.
He summed up Only Boys Aloud, saying: “It brings all these different boys from different backgrounds, with different dreams, hopes and ideas, together to make one beautiful big noise doing something they enjoy.”
On a personal level, he’s seen himself grow in confidence since being part of the group. He said: “It’s given me a lot more confidence in myself and it’s given me the chance to really push what I enjoy – music. It’s given me a confidence boost and a lot more social skills.
“Without Only Boys Aloud I wouldn’t have such strong connections, friends, and support and encouragement to be confident in myself and what I love doing.
“The bonds you make in OBA, are bonds for life.”
Read Iestyn's story
Iestyn is from Tir-Phil in New Tredegar. He’s currently in London studying music at the Academy of Contemporary Music and recently began his journey as a solo performer as a live singer and drag queen.
Iestyn said: “I have been with OBA for a long time now; just last year, I celebrated 8 years with them, and I hope to continue with them for many more years.
“The impact that OBA had on me was significant. Through my time with them, I learned a wide variety of music from different genres and countries, and they provided me with the ability to understand the fundamentals of music in a way that was accessible to me. “
“Only Boys Aloud, for me, has been like a small family, that I can go to if I need help. They’re always there to help.
“It brings a lot of different people together. There are people who do rugby and football, and people who do musical theatre – it really brings people together and you make new friends and meet new people.
“They also taught me the importance of treating people with kindness and never putting someone down for singing the wrong note.”
Read morgan's story
Morgan, from Chepstow, is currently studying for his A-levels. He said: “My journey with Aloud actually started when I joined Only Kids Aloud at 9 years old, and after a short break, I joined OBA and have loved every minute of it.
“It’s opened so many doors for me and gave me opportunities most adults won’t have in their lifetime. Some of these experiences include singing at the King’s Coronation Concert, an amazing residential week in North Wales, full of performing, learning about and practicing music theory, making new mates and ending with a series of concerts.
“Being a member of Aloud has opened other doors for me including being part of the chorus performing with Bryn Terfel for his 50th birthday in WNO’s Tosca and touring in Dubai with WNO.
“The training I have had gave me the confidence to audition for and become a member of the National Youth Choir of Wales.
“These have all been amazing but never would’ve been possible without OBA. It is such an amazing place to start and nurture a passion for performing no matter who you are, and I can attribute so many amazing experiences to my days with OBA.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without OBA. My life would be so boring.
“There’s been music sung in this country for centuries. We can’t let it die. We need to ensure it remains.”
How to help us today
By engaging and contributing to this campaign, you can help us reach more people and share the message of Only Boys Aloud with the people of Wales and beyond.
You can:
- Make a donation. Every donation counts, no matter how small.
- Share our message on social media. Our handle is @aloud.cymru.
- Share your personal story or connection to the Aloud Charity.
- Use the Hashtag:
#SaveTheAloudCharity
#SaveOnlyBoysAloud
#KeepBoysSinging
Other ways to donate
If you don’t have a bank card, or prefer not to donate through our JustGiving page, you can still support our campaign. We will simply add your donation as an ‘offline’ payment and it will contribute to our target.
You can:
1. Send a cheque, made out to ‘The Aloud Charity’, and post to: Unit 1 Regents’ Court, Nettlefold Road, Cardiff, CF24 5JQ
2. Donate by Text – please follow the instructions on our Donate by Text page: www.aloud.cymru/donate-by-text/
3. Make a bank transfer. Our details are:
- The Aloud Charity
- HSBC, 15 Churchill Way, Cardiff, CF10 2HD
- Bank account number: 90106135
- Sort Code: 40-17-64
- Swift/BIC number: HBUKGB4192B
- IBAN: GB78HBUK40176490106135
Please get in touch if you have any problems when making a donation.
Keep boys in Wales singing. Support Aloud today.
SUPPORT US
Help keep the music alive
Make a Donation
By donating today, you’ll be part of the Aloud story, helping us provide positive, life-changing experiences for young people across Wales.
Become a Calon Member
Calon means ‘Heart’ in Welsh and our Calon Members are the beating heart of The Aloud Charity, playing a vital part in our success.
Fundraise for Us
Whether you want to run a marathon or take on your own charity challenge, you can help support our activity in your local area.
