2 MONTHS FREE ENTERTAINMENT FOR CARE HOMES, VIA ZOOM

 

Date:   As posted

To Whom it May Concern

FREE ENTERTAINMENT FOR 2 MONTHS, VIA ZOOM

Let me introduce myself. My name is John Shaw, and I am the founder of a local Community Interest Company known as Blackpool Music Academy (BMA). BMA was established in 2006 to work in conjunction with our sister charity to help those who are less fortunate than others within the district of Blackpool to offer them life chances they would otherwise not have the opportunity to access and improve overall mental and physical health and well-being.

We successfully applied to the National Lottery for funding to help us provide a socially distanced programme of entertainment. This showcases the work of our students, lets them collaborate with professional entertainers and allows the most vulnerable in our community to have access to their work, improve their mental and physical good health and bring communities together. With this in mind, we are approaching local care homes, hospitals, sheltered accommodation, local charities, and churches to offer them the chance to be involved. As such, we want to give you the opportunity to become involved.

Those who have already taken up this unique offer have seen great benefits for their residents. This has included reports of improved mental and physical good health, reduced feelings of social isolation and improvement of overall conditions of life for those who were unfortunately most adversely affected by the recent pandemic. As a bonus we are providing the sessions using Zoom so that those who take part are still protected by socially distanced performances.

 As an initial welcome we would like to offer you the chance of two months free entertainment, which includes 2 sessions staged each month at two weekly intervals on Thursdays at 1400 hours to 1500 hours. You will be provided a wide angle camara and an open microphone this allows BMA to interact with the entertainer to speak to the residents and staff allowing other homes to be involved and come together as one unit to hear and see as the show progresses. Making it fun using zoom. The number of homes to be included would be five to six at once who would receive the program. Also, any difficulty in setting the program up we can assist with our technical support we have enlisted at our cost subject to funding been available.

We have regular rotation of professional performing artists.  Many of these have regular residencies in Blackpool and perform to large audiences on a regular basis.  These acts will cover a wide variety of music styles and the show is a professional production.  The performers will be on a rota system so the same show is not seen week to week.

After your 2-months initial period, we would ask you to sign up to more sessions. To continue we would ask you to contribute £55 to purchase the camera and microphone required for optimal quality of the performance plus £25 per performance, paid monthly in advance. This funding allows us to extend the programme to a wider geographical area keeps the overall costs down and benefits more and more individuals, including those who are living in complete isolation. We wish to bring several care homes and others together to have some fun, have a singalong and provide variety in an often-mundane world.

If you wish for your residents not to be seen by other people, you can either disconnect the camera or turn it away from the audience and you will still be able to hear and see the live show. Please note that the microphone will also be muted at times while the show is ongoing.

To achieve the best picture and sound quality a good and steady internet connection is needed.  The show will be streamed live and direct to you.  We do not use pre-record shows, as this stops the performer interacting with the audience.

The Blackpool Music Academy do not record any audio or visuals of any performance so the privacy of your residents will be respected.

You can request to view a sample of the entertainment that we stream, we can send you our taster session link. The taster viewings are normally on Thursday afternoon.

Please send an email to confirm you will be joining us and who you are etc.

We will contact you for feedback, after the taster session to answer any questions, you may have.

Yours faithfully,

John Shaw

Chairman/Founder