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On Thursday 10th July 2025, we headed to the Victoria Education Centre in Poole to perform as part of their Creative Arts Week. 

Victoria Education Centre is a residential and day school in Dorset offering specialised, high quality care and therapy for young disabled people from 3-19 years old. All their students have physical disabilities and complex medical conditions and many have additional needs including communication difficulties, learning difficulties and sensory impairments.

The school prides themselves on their inclusivity and bespoke education and therapy services. Everyone who visits comments on the positive atmosphere as you walk through the front door.

For us, when we were asked to perform, it was a no brainer. We love performing at a vast variety of different events and this felt like something really special to be part of.

Creative Arts Week is a week-long event dedicated to celebrating and promoting the importance of creativity and the arts. It encourages mass participation in various creative activities, highlighting the positive impact of arts on well-being and community engagement. Again, another perfect reason to perform for the school.

As Dan Cooper (Choir Leader) arrived, it was clear that the event was going to be an incredibly uplifting and inspiring one. James Dean (Head of Expressive Arts at the Victoria Education Centre) told Dan that many of their students love music and that they’d most likely be joining in and dancing with the choir. Perfect. We love that!

As the rest of the choir arrived, we headed in to their main hall to get set up ahead of the performance.

As we were waiting, the young people started to make their way in to the hall. It was lovely to see such smiley faces ready and waiting for the performance to begin. The second we started our set, we could see how much the music was having an impact on their day. We saw lots of smiles and claps.

Dan encouraged lots of audience participation and even declared the ‘dance floor’ (the area in front of the choir) open. That’s all it took. So many children and staff came right up to the area in front of the choir to dance and sing in the ways they felt most comfortable. One young person in a wheelchair started doing wheelies whilst giving high fives to our singers. It was such an incredibly uplifting experience.

The energy in the room was magical. We could truly see people expressing themselves however they felt most comfortable in ways that felt so inspiring.

The power of music should never be understated.

At the end of the performance, so many young people came up to the choir to share how much they loved the performance. One boy said ‘you all rock!!’ whilst fist bumping some members. Another boy who was visually impaired wanted to speak to the whole choir. He said that he loved the performance and wanted to give everybody a high five. It was wonderful.

After the performance, some of our members were visibly moved.

One member said: “I’m feeling incredibly moved by this morning. It was one of the most powerful and joyful gigs I’ve been a part of since I’ve been a member. Seeng the children respond with such energy and enthusiasm was so emotional. I felt happiness, sadness and something bigger I can’t quite put into words. It will forever stay with me. It’s the kind of experience that shifts something within you!”

Another said: “Heart full. So thankful to have witnessed and shared the power of music in such a special space today!”

A huge thanks to the Victoria Education Centre for having us. We can’t wait for next time!