Celebration of Glow 2025
Throughout December, Soundabout’s ‘Glow’ campaign illuminated how music and sound can transform the lives of Learning Disabled people. Our aim was to raise awareness about the charity’s work, reach new supporters, and to raise vital funds to keep our services going.
The campaign was kickstarted by the Big Give Christmas campaign where from the 2nd to 9th December online donations where doubled by our match funders. We had an incredible response and thanks to the help of generous donors, we reached our £40,000 Big Give target!
During the first week of December, we also released our original song ‘Glow’ written by Soundabout Emerging and Graduate Leaders, and recorded by choirs from across the country.
In mid-December we had a flurry of in-person Soundabout choir events. In the West Midlands, choir members, associate choir members, and new Soundabout-ers gathered at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire for a celebratory open rehearsal and social.
Photo credit, Kyle Simms
Oxford and Beyond Choir members took to the stage at Garsington Studios for their ‘Garsington Glow Concert’ and performed alongside the incredibly talented Toodle Pips and Magdalen College School’s Close Harmony Choir. After a superb concert, the music continued with songs around the piano in the foyer with mulled wine and mince pies!
The Oxford and Beyond Choir then braved the cold wet weather a few days to perform in Didcot Town Centre at the BBC Oxford Carols night! The group sang classics like Jingle Bells and Rockin’ Robin and also taught the crowd our ‘Glow’ song!
Once schools and colleges had broken up for the term, families joined us online for ‘Let It Glow Fest’ The all day festival saw us explore our all the senses in glowing sensory sessions, visit Arendelle and the Moonglow Jazz Café, and we danced into the night with our glitter ball finale!
The Glow campaign finished on New Year’s Eve with a virtual Glow and Dance party!
Throughout December Soundabout supporters also fundraised at their own Christmas concerts, end of year lunches, and events. We are incredibly grateful for their tireless fundraising efforts.
We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved. In particular our staff members, volunteers, and practitioners who worked so hard to make the campaign a success. Thank you to all our incredible supporters, thank you ever so much for your generous donations and for raising awareness about Soundabout. Finally, thank you to everyone who came to one of our glow events, whether you came to our online quiz, a virtual festival, or a glitzy concert, we can’t thank you enough.
Drum roll please…. we are incredibly pleased to announce that the 2025 Glow campaign raised an incredible £50,086.98! We are completely blown away with your support and incredibly grateful. It’s a very challenging time for charities and your support means the world of difference!
If you were inspired by Soundabout’s Glow campaign, there are plenty ways to stay involved everything from volunteering, monthly donations, to taking part in our Jan-March 2026 Moveabout challenge!