Music Centre Charity Benefitting to The Tune of £2,000


We have given Abingdon Music Centre a £2,000 donation, providing them with a welcome boost.


The Centre, which is based at Larkmead School, received the money following an appeal by the Kidlington-based firm to nominate a local good cause as part of its development of the new Church Farm community in Radley.

Over the summer people were asked to suggest groups, individuals or organisations they believed deserved to be recognised for their positive impact on local communities.

“We were delighted with the response to the appeal and it was a difficult decision to decide on an overall winner but we all agreed Abingdon Music Centre plays a key role in the area and will undoubtedly benefit from the extra funds,” said our Managing Director, Graham Flint.

The Abingdon Music Centre was established over 40 years ago to give the people of Abingdon opportunities to make music, whatever their age or experience.

It runs baby and pre-school music classes, recorder and musicianship, guitar and music-making classes for school-age children, and a community choir, ladies’ choirs, orchestra and various instrumental groups for adults.

“We’d like to say a huge thank you, both to Pye Homes and local people who nominated us, for this grant,” said Helen Eccleston, Director of Abingdon Music Centre.

“The donation will specifically go towards our ‘Singing for Pleasure’ group. It is a drop-in choir whose members are mainly 60+.

“There is a lot of research about the physical and mental health benefits of group singing and this group is designed to give members an opportunity to have fun singing together as well as interacting with other people.

“The choir is very important to its members and they recognise the positive impact this has on their lives, with one member explaining: ‘It lifts me up when I go to singing. When I get home I feel more upbeat, I can feel it has really done something for me’.

“The last year has been incredibly difficult with members initially having to stop meeting altogether, and then limited numbers meeting outdoors due to the Covid restrictions, before being able to meet together again at Christchurch Barn since September.

“This donation will help secure the future of the group for at least the next year by allowing them to book the venue and pay for the conductor and accompanist, even if numbers are limited again,” she added.

Church Farm is being developed in line with our ‘how we build principles’, which are based on the belief landowners have a social, economic and moral responsibility to deliver quality housing solutions of which its local community can be proud.

The site will have a higher-than-average biodiversity net gain and incorporate natural landscaping to encourage and protect local wildlife, including the introduction of badger corridors.

Reflecting our commitment to sustainability, the homes will not use fossil fuel boilers, instead moving to more environmentally friendly heating solutions with solar panels and air source heat pumps.

A significant portion of the homes will have an EPC rating of A, giving every homeowner a greater level of comfort, with the potential to reduce heating costs.

A new cycle link between Radley and Oxford via Kennington will also be part of the development along with additional public open spaces, public transport infrastructure and pedestrian crossing areas – all aimed at encouraging greener lifestyle choices.

The site will include 84 affordable homes; 21 of which will be shared ownership and the remaining 63 will form part of an affordable rent scheme, with 156 properties available to buy on the open market.


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