Ryan O'Donovan from Beat Express

Carousel, one of the country’s leading learning-disability arts organisations, is to feature on the BBC Lifeline Appeal on Sunday September 26.

To raise awareness of its work in advance of the BBC Appeal, Carousel is holding an afternoon of music and film in Jubilee Square, Brighton on Saturday 18 September.

Starting at noon, the event is hosted by the DJs of Carousel’s Shut Up And Listen radio show, broadcast monthly on Radio Reverb in Brighton at 97.2 fm. The programme is the only place on the airwaves to hear music played by musicians with learning disabilities and is organised and presented by a learning disabled team.  

Throughout the afternoon bands including Beat Express (indie/rock) Zombie Crash (metal) and The Fuzzbomb Band (pop/punk) play short sets.

There are films from the internationally renowned Oska Bright Film Festival being screened at MyHotel, Pizza Express and Brighton Library.

Everyone is welcome to come along and hear more about Carousel’s work with learning-disabled people in performance, film-making, music and training.

The BBC Lifeline Appeal is broadcast on Sunday September 26 in the early evening slot and it is hoped it will raise much needed funds to enable Carousel’s pioneering approach to learning-disability led arts projects. Dancer and singer Jolene Wild, a member of Carousel’s performance group High Spin, is featured in BBC film.

Her mum Pauline says:
“On joining Carousel Jolene was at last given the opportunity to reach her full potential and take up dance as her career choice, working alongside like- minded peers and professionals, a choice not usually given to people with a learning disability.
 
"Jolene has partial sensory neural deafness so speech and language is a major challenge for her. Carousel takes disabilities in its stride; they work with the disability in order to get the most out of the student and to help them to fulfil their ambition.
 
"I have not known of an organisation like Carousel before, they are a ‘one off’. They allow the student full power to follow their chosen path and be creative in their own way.”

For more information view:
www.carousel.org.uk