Recent updates

The latest news from our projects

  • A big thank you !!

    An update for Fairfield High School essential technology fundraiser

    Dec 24 2020

    Yes! We did it - Stage 1 achieved!

    What an amazing group you are - to have raised £5000 in just 10 days for a project which will make so much difference to so many of the children who have been struggling to get connected online.

    Of course the appeal will carry on and we'll be moving to Stage 2 in the New Year focusing on local businesses and a wider network of contributors in an attempt to close the remaining digital divide in our school.

    You are all so brilliant and deserve an enormous amount of praise and thanks.

    Stars, each and every one of you.

    Merry Christmas to everyone.

  • !! Breaking News !! We've reached our £5,000 Stage 1 target !!

    An update for Fairfield High School essential technology fundraiser

    Dec 24 2020

    Of course the appeal will carry on and we'll be moving to Stage 2 in the New Year focusing on local businesses and a wider network of contributors in an attempt to close the remaining digital divide in our school.

    Thank you, thank you, thank you !!

  • You've helped push us to £4,500 !!

    An update for Fairfield High School essential technology fundraiser

    Dec 21 2020

    Our Stage 1 target is in sight and edging closer.

    We know it's going to be tough in 2021 and we want to do everything in our power to help ensure that no child or family is left behind, unable to access the crucial online learning which will be needed. The school is doing its best but needs our support to make this happen.

    The response to the appeal so far has been brilliant and we now need a final push over the Christmas period.

    Please continue to share and to add a little extra if you can - every donation is important, however small.

  • We've passed the £3000 mark thanks to your support !!

    An update for Fairfield High School essential technology fundraiser

    Dec 17 2020

    We have passed the £3000 mark in the tech appeal - an astonishing feat in just a couple of days thanks to your extraordinary generosity.

    To all of you who have contributed so far we are incredibly grateful. You should feel proud to be so instrumental in supporting a project which will make such a positive difference to so many.

    Please continue to share the appeal to those who may not be aware of the Fundsurfer page and who might feel able to support the fund.

    Every pound donated will make a difference to a child in difficulty.

  • Short Film

    An update for Britten Saint Nicolas: A film celebrating live and virtual music making

    Dec 16 2020

    Hello everyone! I hope you have all had a chance to watch the short film we released a couple of weeks ago. Thank you so much to those of you who have already sent feedback – and if you haven't, I would love to hear what you think. 

    You can access the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqgeRcmW_ro&t=7s or on the Chiltern Arts website, until the end of December.

    Enjoy, and thank you again for your support: we wouldn't have got here without you! 

    Very best wishes

    Naomi

  • You have raised a Massive £30,582!!

    An update for Sleep Pod Fundraising Campaign

    Dec 2 2020

    The Sleep Pod Team are blown away by all your support and generous donations. We now have 696 backers and together you have raised a MASSIVE £30,582. 

    Every penny counts and will all go towards helping to protect rough sleepers during these winter months. All this money goes directly into the Charity to build more Sleep Pods for those people living rough on the streets.

    Through your generous donations and the kindness of volunteers just over 3,000 Sleep Pods have been built since the start of the project. This is a huge achievement, you have helped protect 3,000 vulnerable people, living day to day on the cold wet streets.  We are now distributing Sleep Pods across the UK from Bolton, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Kent, London, Northampton, North Herts, Sheffield, Southampton, Wales, Walsall, and Wolverhampton. Each week we have new homeless organisations and charities contacting us enquiring about Sleep Pods. The need is even greater this year during these uncertain times. We want to help protect as many rough sleepers as we can this winter.

    Sleep Pod relies heavily on the generosity of others who share the same vision to help protect rough sleepers by keeping them warm, dry and safe. Please share the fundsurfer so we can build more Sleep Pods to help protect the most vulnerable people during these cold, wet, winter months.

    A huge thank you to all those who have been involved with the Sleep Pod Build at Home Project.

    To find out more about the Sleep Pod Build at Home Project please subscribe to our YouTube Channel: Sleep Pod UK 

    This coming weekend the Bristol Sleep Pod Distribution Team are running Sleep Pod Build at Home builds, so Sleep Pods can be built safely and securely in the comfort of your own homes. Videos are available to follow on our YouTube Channel. We also plan to run home builds in London and in Kent so please follow us so you can sign up.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmx6WAN44wM Please watch our recent video with updates about the Sleep Pod Charity.

    Together we can make a difference!! 

    Love the Sleep Pod Team 

    Registered Charity Number 1187295

  • Short Film Release THIS SUNDAY!

    An update for Britten Saint Nicolas: A film celebrating live and virtual music making

    Dec 1 2020

    Hello everyone

    I'm writing to let you know that we will be releasing the short film that we recorded for back in September on Sunday 6th December (Saint Nicolas' Day) at 3pm. The film will then be available to view until the end of December. 

    Check out a little sneak peak of how the Virtual Choir sound with this video here: https://youtu.be/xIqAgQKh0zE 

    We'll be emailing our Silver, Gold and Platinum Donors with a private link to the film on Saturday afternoon – your chance to see it before the rest of the world! 

    Very best wishes

    Naomi

     

  • First Phase Recording: Done!

    An update for Britten Saint Nicolas: A film celebrating live and virtual music making

    Sep 29 2020

    Dear All Supporters

    I am delighted to let you know that on Monday 21st September we were able to go ahead with our first phase recording session.

    Some of you may have heard that Nicky Spence, who is our Nicolas for this project, unfortunately underwent emergency surgery a couple of weeks ago, and due to this he was unable to sing for a number of weeks. We did all we reasonably could to try to find an alternative recording date that suited both Nicky and the rest of the team, but unfortunately rescheduling became horrendously complex – along with the nagging feeling that we don't know what may come along next in terms of government regulations that may put a halt to our plans. 

    When we come to record the full-length film, with the entire work, Nicky Spence will be singing Nicolas. However, for this first phase – the initial short film that will be released this Christmas – the excellent Nick Pritchard will be singing. We all wish Nicky a very speedy recovery, and look forward to working with him in 2021. 

    So a week and a half ago, at St Giles' Cripplegate in London, we recorded movements 1, 2 and 9 of Britten's Saint Nicolas with Nick Pritchard, Ken Burton, I Fagiolini, the City of London Sinfonia, pianists Iain Farrington and John Reid and organist Stephen Farr. It was a brilliant day, everyone involved worked incredibly hard to squeeze everything into the four hours we had available to us – and above all, it was wonderful to be in the room hearing and experiencing real live music-making between this excellent group of musicians. 

    From this recording we are creating the guide tracks for the virtual choir – whose contributions we will be receiving over the next four weeks.

    Bill Barclay (director) and Alex Barnes and his team (sound and vision) worked tirelessly throughout the session last week to get exactly the right shots that we needed to make this short film an unforgettable experience for you this Christmas, documenting this time we are living through with music and poignant images. We will shortly be posting a few photos on social media, and also making a full photo gallery with photos from the day available to our Gold and Platinum donors (there are a couple of tasters here – both from Matthew Johnson)... and we'll keep you updated as we move forward! 

    Very best wishes

    Naomi Taylor

     

  • What's Next?

    An update for Britten Saint Nicolas: A film celebrating live and virtual music making

    Sep 4 2020

    Dear supporters and donors

    Huge thanks from all of us here at Chiltern Arts and on the Saint Nicolas Team for your generous contributions to the crowdfunding campaign.

    As you may be aware, we have unfortunately not reached our ideal target in the original timeframes. However, I am delighted to let you know that with the donations from the crowdfunding campaign and the Arts Council grant, we have raised enough to move this project to a phased approach with an initial short film being made and released in time for Christmas. We will be in touch in the next few days with donors regarding donation rewards, and below is a brief description of our next steps:

    - Later this month all the artists for the project – Nicky Spence, Ken Burton, I Fagiolini, the City of London Sinfonia, Alex Barnes and Bill Barclay – will meet in London to record a small selection of movements from Britten's Saint Nicolas, therefore still providing essential work for freelancers at this difficult time. This will be recorded 'as live', as originally intended. 

    - We are very pleased to announce the addition of Iain Farrington and Stephen Farr to our team as pianist and organist respectively – with one further pianist to be announced soon.

    - The movements being recorded will include movements 1 and 9, which feature virtual choir, therefore giving our amateur musicians the opportunity to be involved with the project in this first phase.

    - We will also be recording movement 2 which will include virtual children's choir.

    - The resulting short film will be released in time for Christmas this year.

    - We will be converting our crowdfunding campaign into an open-ended project in order to continue raising money towards the final product, which we will aim to complete in 2021. 

    - We will keep all donors and supporters updated at all stages of the project.

    Thank you again for your generous support. We are delighted to be taking the first steps to making this project a reality and bringing Saint Nicolas to life.

    Very best wishes,

    Naomi Taylor

    Chiltern Arts Creative Director

  • Just four days left!

    An update for Britten Saint Nicolas: A film celebrating live and virtual music making

    Sep 1 2020

    With just four days left to get closer to our target on this project, we really need your help to spread the word and raise as much as we can, to help us bring Saint Nicolas to you and to choirs and orchestras across the country in time for Christmas.

    Thank you so much for all your support – please spread the word, and help us raise as much as possible in the remaining time!