RVJ&B was established over 16 years ago to bring high quality music to the Ribble Valley and to promote and develop local talent. The main focus is a yearly festival which brings the community together but we work throughout the year with different community organisations to enable them to learn and create celebratory music. This event and the workshops/sessions/activities leading up to it, bring the town together and promote inclusivity and involvement. We believe in the power of all music (not just jazz and blues) and we recognise how important this event is to the well being and health of the community. During the festival, we encourage people of all ages to experience new music genres to feed their love of music and we recognise the impact sharing music can have on the health and well being of an individual.
We support the community. Our particular focus at the moment is encouraging younger people to get involved with the festival. This is partly to ensure that the committee is robust for perpetuity, but also to ensure that the festival continues to evolve and remain relevant to the community. As part of the run up to the festival we have many activities which encourage younger people to get involved and to learn new skills, which are then performed at the festival. This brings people together, it helps create a senses of belonging and ownership of the festival and indeed, the thriving music scene in Clitheroe.
As funding in schools for the arts has been cut, we are more aware of the need to support people to find access to the arts through organisations like the Jazz and Blues club.
