For a decade Crossings has cultivated a space in which refugees and asylum seekers in the North East of England can be affirmed as welcomed and valued members of the local community through collective music making and learning. However, the continuing financial pressures of tutor fees, venue hire, and maintaining the group’s status as free-of-charge has put Crossings’ invaluable work in a perilous situation. Crossings' reach goes beyond the Newcastle-Gateshead area with members coming from Sunderland, showing how valuable this safe space is for individuals' self-expression, creativity and well-being. Therefore, we'd like to keep providing the weekly tuition free-of-charge as well as cover travel expenses to give anyone in the region a chance to attend. Crossings' value stretches way beyond chords and rhythm, building a support network that can become a pillar of a person’s social interaction. In order to maintain that, we are calling on your support and generosity.

What we'll deliver:

• Cultivate a safe community space for all where diverse cultures are celebrated
• Provide weekly, free-of-charge, music sessions (choir, violin, guitar, percussion)
• Encourage the development of our members’ skills, confidence and self-expression
• Hold open mic nights to showcase the group's work to the wider community
• Keep developing links with local organisations to allow members to explore the city and its cultural hubs

Why it's a great idea:

The current rhetoric in the media and public sphere surrounding refugees and asylum seekers concerns itself almost primarily with the fraught nature of their political status. Although there are many institutions doing important functional work to improve their situation in this context, Crossings is seeking to focus more on the human and emotional aspect of these stories, using music as the platform. Sometimes the battle to acquire a national insurance number isn’t enough to affirm someone’s identity, but, as has been proven time and again, creative expression through the prism of group music making often is just such a way, precipitating the social conditions in which it is possible to feel like a valued and contributing individual to a shared whole. We hope that through cultivating and showcasing the music of our members in the wider community, Crossings can help dismantle some of the stereotypes about marginalised groups. Help us continue to unite people with music!

Steps to get it done:

• Paying for members' travel costs
• Becoming a Registered Charity
• Being able to rent a space to store drums initially
• Re-launch the drumming group
• Create a Crossings Community band
• Record an EP

Crossings Community Group has been recognised as a very positive and important organisation, and has been awarded funding from People's Health Trust. We are so glad that we have some more funds to go towards the project costs, however due to the increase in our income, we now have more costs to deal with, including becoming a registered charity, training staff, and paying an increased amount of insurance. These underlying costs are vital to keep our members safe and we could not run the project without them.