The programme was started by members of the Hands & Voices committee, who wanted to share their singing and signing skills with others. The programme has been so successful that, we now have 11 members of the Hands & Voices who lead workshops on a regular basis with more being trained up all the time.

The apprentices have run workshops in a wide range of settings up and down the UK, and with a range of participants, e.g. under 5’s groups, primary, secondary and special needs schools, and we are especially keen to work with inclusive groups of children i.e. mainstream and SEN students learning together, day centre’s and other disabled groups, as well as teachers and music leaders and other education professionals. Workshops are tailored to suit individual groups, and can be run with groups of any ages and abilities, with from 6 to 30 participants. The workshops are usually last for about an hour and they can be adapted to suit individual needs. One of the teachers had this to say about our workshop:

In a typical Hands & Voices workshop, the apprentice and their mentor will lead the group in a series of warm-ups, before teaching the group to sing and sign one or two songs (depending on time). You will be left with a resource pack after the workshop, containing sign sheets and backing tracks, so you can continue to sing and sign after the workshop.

For the workshop participants, a Hands & Voices workshop is a great way of learning to sing and sign, whilst at the same time seeing positive disabled role models in action. And (of course) they’re great fun too! For school groups, and choirs it’s a chance to have a go signing, which many groups have never had the opportunity to try before. Workshops can also be structured around the curriculum to fit the citizenship and inclusion agenda.

As part of the programme, apprentices receive training on how to run successful workshops, a range of skills ranging from learning about group dynamics and leadership to specific musical and signing skills. For the apprentices, as well as acquiring transferable skills and practical work experience, the workshops give them the chance to give something positive back to their community. The workshop programme has proved extremely beneficial to the members who have taken part in it – through the workshops we have seen individuals flourish, gaining greater self-confidence and an improved sense of self worth.

This model of working has more recently been adopted by the SoundWeavers, who now lead regular workshops demonstrating the wide range of accessible and interactive music technology that we use. AA&M is frequently asked to run joint Hands & Voices and SoundWeaver workshops and we are hoping to start training up our first apprentices from the Ableweb York project in the near future, who will then be able to go out and demonstrate accessible website design to others.