Finding Resources

RSCM
Young Voices Toolkit
Finding Resources

5. Finding Resources

There are bound to be costs involved in working anew with children and young people. Not least, it will create new time demands on leaders, which will either have to be paid for or supplied on a voluntary basis.

Look for ways of minimising the expenses, and harness volunteer support wherever you can. Where investment is needed, explore where this might come from. Think about all this before you start, so that you know the work can continue.

Who has time for this work, and at what cost?

Maybe you yourself have the time to contribute, on top of your existing paid or voluntary duties, to provide leadership for the programme and key activities such as working in school and directing rehearsals. If you don’t, someone else might be found, but they may reasonably expect to be paid. Many churches who approach the challenge of rebuilding the tradition of children leading music in worship recognise the need to invest adequately, and often advertise new part-time roles to underpin it.

Printed music

Start with what you already have. Do an audit of what is already in your music cupboard before creating a list of what more you want. If you are working with a local school, what do they have, either in print or through a subscription service such as Sing Up or Out of the Ark? Might they be interested in signing up for Hymnpact!? The RSCM has many affordable printed resources, including material for young singers and musicians and photocopiable resources. If your church already subscribes to music download services such as CCLI, find out what is available there and make full use of it. Explore free online resources such as creative commons or out-of-copyright material on CPDL, IMSLP or the Small Choirs Library. If you need to buy extra copies of existing hymn or anthem books, see if you can pick these up second-hand: ebay is always worth a try, or second-hand book portals such as Abe Books.

Robes and uniforms

If your choir or music group wear robes or other uniform, and you have few or none in appropriate sizes, think carefully about what you actually need, as a priority. Better a choir without robes than robes without a choir! Start with what you do have and explore what can be adapted. Do you have cassocks for older children which can be ‘tacked up’ as an interim solution for smaller ones? Is anyone in the church up for adapting existing robes or uniforms or making new ones? If you do need to acquire robes from outside, shop around. There are several suppliers, with considerable range in prices. Before you buy new, explore second-hand options. Use your own social networks among church musicians to put out a call for what you are looking for – many music rooms or vestries are full of robes and other resources which have lain unused for years. Join the ‘Clergy Clutter’ group on Facebook, which facilitates the recycling of unused church resources, including robes.

Get the backing of your church

Unless your church as a whole is firmly behind your aims, and seem them as vital to its mission and future, then it will not sufficiently prioritise it above other calls on limited finance. Find an opportunity to brief the PCC or Church Committee on what is going to be needed, and what it might cost. Get an idea of what might be available, and cut your cloth accordingly. Talk to your church Treasurer about any particular funds that might be accessible. Some churches have historic ‘restricted’ funds for which the original purpose has disappeared over time: it may be that a new or revived area of work with children and young people in music could tap into some such funds.

Raise funding

Go public with your mission and ambition. Maybe there is someone in the congregation, the adult choir or the wider community, who so closely identifies with what you are trying to achieve that they are prepared to commit to pump-priming or ongoing financial support. With the agreement of the Treasurer and PCC, start a new fund specifically to support this work and invite people to contribute. Consider dedicated fundraising activities such as concerts or recitals, or a sponsored hymn-sing.

Develop a project for grant funding

As your project develops and starts to deliver results, you could consider applying to external grant-giving bodies to support its expansion. A number of bodies give grants to support the growth and mission of churches or church music, including the Cathedral Music Trust’s ‘Church Choir Award’ in partnership with the RSCM, Hymns Ancient and Modern, which not only subsidises the cost of books but also supports wider church projects, and the Ouseley Church Music Trust. Contact your Church diocesan or regional strategy team, to see if there are funding programmes you can apply to.