The ESS Defence team and Royal Navy were delighted to welcome students from the Music Man Project for a music and cake collaboration at HMS Collingwood recently!
The Music Man Project is a multi-award-winning international music education charity for people with learning disabilities. It provides accessible music tuition, gives grants for accessible arts education, promotes equal access to performance, carries out research and raises awareness of the achievements of disadvantaged people in the arts.
14 Music Man Global Ambassador students visited the Royal Navy base in Fareham where they took part in a cake decorating class delivered by a team of ESS chefs, assisted by Commanding Officer Captain Tim Davey and sailors from Victory Squadron.
After all their hard work, the students, their families and carers, ESS team members and Royal Navy personnel enjoyed an afternoon tea together.
The highlight of the day came when the students performed an hour-long concert for the guests, including their classic tracks "Note by Note" and "High Low Middle". The concert was interactive with the audience encouraged to join in with the dancing ably led by the Music Man students. These musicians have played for His Majesty the King, the Prime Minister and at the Royal Albert Hall and provide a great reminder of the power of music to unite, uplift and inspire.
This was a fantastic day filled with joy, laughter and fun and the ESS team look forward to working with the Music Man Project again in the future.
David Stanley from the Music Man Project commented:
“Please pass on my thanks to your lovely chefs. They were delightful with the students. It was also great to have the sailors helping out and joining in the fun! We loved performing at the end, and I thought the atmosphere was so joyful. You have friends for life in these students – I think our “music and cake collaboration” could become quite a thing!”
Stuart Palmer, ESS General Manager at HMS Collingwood, commented:
“Our afternoon with the Music Man Project was like a glass full of goodness! The event involved great collaboration between the project team, ESS colleagues and the Royal Navy, with everyone enjoying the cake decorating and afternoon tea before joining in the concert afterwards for a sing and a dance. This was a truly special experience, and I look forward to working with the Music Man Project again in the future.”
Angela Lewis, Strategic Relationship and Contract Governance Solution Lead, added:
“The collaboration was borne out of watching a wonderful Music Man performance during the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall. We were grateful for the immediate engagement from Captain Tim Davey to make the event possible at HMS Collingwood. We thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and Music Man made sure we all joined in with the dancing! I look forward to planning more events with Music Man in the coming months.”
