Outreach

How we support the wider community

Youth, Education and Outreach Programme

OutreachWe have a responsibility to reach out to young people and involve them in celebrating the diversity of our society.

2011 saw the launch of our Youth, Education and Outreach Programme which aims to combat homophobia in schools through music. The programme was made possible by a grant from the Derek Butler Trust.

Musical Workshops

Our school workshops kick off with a fun and engaging vocal warm up activity which may include tongue twisters, singing or rhythm games and movement activities to get the body relaxed and ready for singing!

The main focus then shifts to the teaching of a small number of uplifting songs for performance, normally including choreography.

LGMC members are invited to the musical workshops to help encourage the students by singing alongside the group. We can include an opportunity for a Q&A session with our members too if the school wishes. The key message we promote is respect for all, regardless of background.

The workshop would ideally culminate in a performance of the songs at an assembly or after school show or event.

Workshops are led by our music team, who are all qualified teachers. They are expert in keeping their learners engaged in a fun and exciting way – after all they need to keep the attention of 200 chatty gay men for 3 hours at rehearsal on a Monday evening!

For a flavour of one of our education projects view this video of our ‘Untold Stories’ project with Riverside School.

Assemblies

Why not invite the LGMC to teach your students a song or choreography as part of a school assembly?

For example, we taught pupils the moves to ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ during a school assembly at Dalmain Primary School and are looking forward to visiting the school again to teach them another song!

Other Recent Projects

We continued to support Petchey Academy during their diversity week. We also piloted an education partnership project with Stonewall and the Museum of London. Students at Swanlea school learned about the history of diversity and equality in London and the importance of accepting everyone and celebrating difference.

As part of this, the LGMC supported students to learn a song to perform as part of a celebration assembly. In the new academic year we will be repeating this project with another school.

Work with us!

We’re looking for schools and organisations interested in educating and inspiring through music. We are available to help groups fundraise at many different types of events and to work with all types of organisations – not just those that are specifically LGBT focused. As several of our members are qualified teachers, we would be happy to host an event at your school or organisation.

If you are interested in participating in our programme, please contact our Trustee for Youth, Education and Outreach. Finally, if homophobia is affecting you, or someone you know, please contact us and we can help find the right support network for you.

What People Say About Our Work

As part of our Diversity Week we had Simon from the LGMC work with our Year 6 classes. This resulted in a fantastic and inspiring choir performance during our celebration assembly and the children thoroughly enjoyed the musical expertise and enthusiasm involved in the experience.

Kathleen Fanthom – Behaviour Lead at Muschamp School,

Support Our Work

You can help us!

There are many ways you can support our Youth, Education and Outreach Programme. You can donate money by text message (see below), of you work in a school or with a youth group, you can get in touch if you’d like us to host a workshop for you.

Donate!

Donating to the LGMC’s Youth Education and Outreach Programme couldn’t be easier. Simply text LGMC25 £XX (the amount you would like to donate) to 70070, or visit our MyDonate page.

Work with us!

If you are interested in taking part with this or similar projects please get in touch.

Support our outreach work

Donate now

Education Partners

The Stonewall School Champions programme provides support to schools in preventing and tackling homophobic bullying and celebrating difference. We suggest that schools are registered with the Stonewall School Champions programme and have completed some introductory work prior to completing workshops with the London Gay Men’s Chorus.

We have also worked alongside Stonewall and the Museum of London to deliver the ‘It’s my City Too!’ project at Swanlea School in 2013. Over two months, the LGMC delivered a series of workshops to year 8 where they learned about the history of diversity and equality in London and the importance of accepting everyone and celebrating difference. The students worked with the LGMC to learn the song ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough!’. The project culminated with a fantastic performance of this song at a final assembly about the project.

If you are interested in getting involved in this or a similar project, please get in touch!

Diversity Role Models actively seeks to prevent homophobic bullying in UK schools. The aim is to stop bullying before it happens by educating young people about differences in sexuality and gender identity.

In schools where homophobic bullying is tackled, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students are 60% less likely to be bullied. This environment allows young people to feel safe and focus on learning. It also prepares all students for a working environment in which homophobia and transphobia are not tolerated and diversity is respected.

We communicate with students directly, using positive role models to counter negative stereotypes. We help LGB and T young people to feel confident. We help their classmates to understand, accept and welcome the differences they notice in others.

Diversity role models can be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or straight. They need not be successful, attractive or brilliant. They certainly don’t need to be perfect. All they need to demonstrate is that it’s ok to be different. For more information, please see www.diversityrolemodels.org.

This collaboration is an exciting opportunity to combat homophobia in two very different and complimentary ways.

The London Gay Men’s Chorus delivered an assembly at Royal Russell School in October 2014. The key message was that gay people come from all backgrounds – including some that are entertainers or sports people – and they deserve respect just like anyone else. So we should think twice when using terms such as ‘That’s so gay!’. There was a positive response from the students and we hope to work with the LGMC on similar projects in the future.