Doncaster charity helping to connect people with music and art

The charity Darts has been busy all through lockdown moving all of their resources and community groups online.

Helen Jones, Assistant Director of Darts, said: “We have a mass of content now available online, split into two categories of music and art at home.

“Before the coronavirus all of our work was done face to face so it has been a change but the shift online has shown us just how keen people are keen to create.

“We hope we can keep these online resources going post-Covid-19 for people with long term health issues or limited mobility.”

The charity says that they have noticed an increase of people using their resources mostly from young families but want people to be aware they have options for all age ranges.

Darts have been running music challenges to keep people thinking creatively during lockdown.

One participant Karen Latimer of Heatherwood School said: “I was amazed and impressed by the quality and breadth of the darts music hub resources for Doncaster.

“I will definitely be using them regularly and promoting them to my entire school team!

“We are extremely fortunate to have this kind of forward-thinking and arts vision locally!

“I cannot express my thanks enough!”

Dyzelle Sutherland, Core Artist at Darts said: “We’ve kept the challenges short so that they don’t overload people and they can try lots of new things.

“I’ve also tried my best to make the challenges away from screens, you can print them out and take them away.

“You don’t need any musical experience or instruments to do them.

“Music is universal and everyone in the household can join in.”

Some of the resources that Darts are sharing include poetry prompts with Ian McMillan, singing at home tips, and online music tutorials.

Helen said: “However we are aware that not everyone is able to access these resources so we are hoping to put packs together to be able to send out into the community.

“We’re hoping to work with food banks to get them out to people.

“We have been trying our best to keep in contact with those who can’t access our online resources with phone calls and even sending CDs out in the post.”

Darts will be creating an online gallery to celebrate all the wonderfully creative things people make during lockdown- photographs or scans of artworks can be emailed to [email protected].

Darts are also asking for opinions on their resources to help them make them even better especially from teachers and parents.

You can check out the online resources mentioned on their website here or follow them on Facebook here for regular updates.

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