Why disabled children need help

Many families with disabled children cannot afford to buy even the most basic household leisure equipment that many of us take for granted, such as a stereo and music CDs. When a child with special needs shows an interest in music, progressing this requires funds that are often not available. The AMBER Music Awards have been set up especially to address this need.

AMBER knows that children with sight loss, including those with additional disabilities, are less likely than sighted children to receive tuition or assistance due to other people’s misunderstandings about disability.

A child like Joseph
Like his sister, Eleanor, Joseph has blurred vision, cannot see colours, and has a dislike of bright light. He is a very ‘rhythmic’ child and wanted to learn the drums from an early age.

 
The AMBER Music Awards paid for an electronic drum kit for Joseph, along with drum lessons and piano lessons. Joseph has a natural talent for the drums and looks forward with great excitement to each lesson. He enjoys the tactile feedback he gets through the drumsticks.

Joseph’s drum teacher describes him as, “an enthusiastic and talented pupil, who is making the most of his lessons and showing good progress”. Joseph is so awed by his sister's progress that his new ambition is to audition for the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

The AMBER Music Awards have enabled both Eleanor and Joseph to access specialist music lessons and develop their passion and talent. As their father says: “Music truly is the children's life - their application and perseverance is really something to see. They practice diligently and have a seemingly limitless energy for music. They both spend all week looking forward to their next lesson.”