Josie Dear
As many of you know I have done lots of voluntary work over the years, a lot of that has been in prison settings working on projects that reflect two of my biggest passions; Stories and Music.
(I must also say that I have had the fortune of being employed at times to run projects to and worked with some amazing organisations and charities who have been a big inspiration to me)
I have had the pleasure of being involved in some wonderful events over the last year bringing performers in to prison settings to share their music and their life stories. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with comment such as
“For an evening I was removed from my stress and worries”
“Someone like Joe giving their time to come in and perform for us is really nice. It reminds you there are people who will still do something for you even now”
“Music brought us all together. I felt unity here with everyone”
Most musicians are willing to come to us for free or for a very reduced fee but I would love to be able to offer people travel expenses and buy them dinner or lunch at the very least.
If any of you have tried to raise funds, then I’m sure you will know that it is both time consuming and long winded and only worthwhile for specific long term projects looking for very sizable amounts of funding. So I have been toying with a little idea for a while and I have decided to give it a shot…
I want to set up my own little charity to raise the small sum of money required to attract and support other performers involvement .
My charity will be called ‘Josie Dear’, named after my Grandma who was a person full of love and joy and my charities main ethos will be to bring joy in challenging circumstances, to try and let the light in and support people in their rehabilitation.
If you are able to donate some money to help me keep sending musicians in to prisons to share their passions then please support this charity it will make a real difference. I’d love to keep you involved in the project too (if you’d like) with updates about how the money is used and opportunities to get directly involved with the charity when possible.
Thank you for your time, support, love
Minnie x
