Dear FMCA Members and Supporters,

We hope you are all looking forward to returning to FMC sessions from Friday 15th September and playing in our groups again. We look forward to seeing you again and welcoming any new members.

Autumn term dates

September	15th, 22nd, 29th
October	6th, 13th
November	3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th
December	1st, 2nd (Christmas Concert)

Spring term dates

January	19th, 26th
February	2nd, 9th
March	1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd
Spring Concert	March 16th or 23rd (TBC)

Summer term dates

April	19th, 26th
May	3rd, 10th, 17th
June	7th, 14th, 21st, 28th
July	5th, 6th (Summer Concert)

Tuck shop

The tuck shop helps to raise funds and is popular with children and adult players during breaktime. It is also available to parents and carers who stay for sessions.

Enrolment

You will need to fill out our enrolment forms on your first session. Please fill in the Gift Aid section if you are a taxpayer (parents of anyone under 18 and a student can also fill out this section).

Membership fees

Cost per term is £30 for adults and £20 for children.

Please pay promptly online by bank transfer & include the players name for reference. Please then email FMCA on fenlandmusiccentreassociation@gmail.com to say that you have paid.

Dear FMCA members and supporters, thank you for continuing to support FMC!

We are having a push on fundraising during these next 2 years due to increased costs and a reduction in payment for engagements (organisations don’t have the money available to pay, or to pay much). It is difficult to get the right balance between keeping membership fees low and covering our costs and we will have a shortfall again this year. The FMCA committee are exploring ways to make ends meet, including applying for grants, advertising more and attracting new players, but we hope you can become more involved by encouraging others to join. Members, parents/carers, family and friends can help by:

Signing up for gift aid yearly on our registration forms. If you pay tax and are a player or parent of a player, FMCA can claim 25% tax on membership fees, which can help a lot towards running costs.

Signing up for Easy Fundraising (over 18) at www.easyfundraising.org.uk. FMC will benefit from a donation when you buy online from a list of over 7000 shops and services. Our set-up guide will soon be on the website or you can ask Jeremy for help during FMC sessions.

Tuck shop – The tuck shop is available between orchestra and concert band. The price of tuck has also increased and unfortunately, we have to pass those costs on. Please support FMCA by buying drinks and snacks during the break after orchestra, as any profits go toward our running costs. Thanks to all of the parents who run the tuck shop.

Promote FMCA events on your social media and by word of mouth in the following ways so that we can attract new members and people to come to listen to us – also encourage people you know to join if they have played orchestral instruments in the past, so that we can grow our membership.

Social Media – Please subscribe, follow and spread FMC news through your social media, so that more people know about us and join us. Check the website regularly for updates to information on FMC news, policies and engagements/concerts.

• Website: www.fenlandmusiccentre.org.uk
• Facebook: @fenland.musiccentre
• Twitter: @Fenlandmusic
• Instagram: @fenland_music

Photographs – If you take any photographs or video at FMC events, please could you email copies to us to use in our social media accounts, website and publicity and to add to FMC’s 50+ year visual archive. We will always check with permissions on the registration forms before posting or publishing any photos – we will use your photos on our social media if you send them in. Several members have mentioned that they would like to see any photos members take and would like to share with everyone.

Tea Time Concert 18th March – please bring in cakes to sell at the Tea Time Concert. You can bring them to the FMC session on 17th instead if you wish. All baking is appreciated, thank you!

Term Dates

Spring term sessions: March 3rd, 10th, 17th & 24th

Summer term dates: April 21st & 28th, May 5th, 12th, 19th& 26th June 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th & July 1st

Diary Dates

Please tell Beth or Ceri if you are unable to play on any dates, as soon as you know.

GNRD – ‘The Great Nursery Rhyme Disaster’

During May, June and July 2022, several FMC volunteers went into more than 10 primary schools in Fenland to introduce a range of orchestral instruments to children in outreach sessions. It was very successful, and we hope to do a similar project next summer.

Many thanks to Sophie Megicks for the photographs included in the newsletter below!

Click the following links to download this newsletter as a DOC or PDF file, or to just see the photos choose a link below:

• FMCA & Peterborough Flute Choir
• Tea Time Concert

Dear FMCA Members and Supporters,

Thank you to all those who took part in the summer term events – the Coffee Concert raised £32.70 and the Rotary Concert raised £600. ‘The Great Nursery Rhyme Disaster’ during June and July introduced children in 12 Fenland primary schools to a selection of orchestral instruments through music, song, rhyme and storytelling. There was also a concert at St Peter’s Church. It was our first outreach focused solely in primary schools and we hope to repeat it next year with a different theme.

You will have noticed that we have started to expand our musical provision by running separate sessions for brass band and chamber orchestra alongside concert band and community orchestra. We would not be able to continue running without the financial sponsorship and donations of individuals and local organisations and we are very grateful for their support. We are playing our usual festive Christmas music this term and some pieces leading to our 2023 theme.

Please post the Xmas Concert poster on your Facebook page and groups and also encourage family and friends to come to listen and sing along. Please can you also bring donations in for the raffle to the 25th November or 2nd December session – thank you!

Diary Dates

Please read further detail on the FMCA email and see Ceri or Beth if you are unable to play on any of these dates:

20th November	FMCA Committee Meeting 6pm St Peter’s Church – all members’ welcome
25th November	March Xmas Lights 6.45pm – Brass Band outside St Peter’s Church
26th November	Chatteris Xmas Lights 3.45pm – 4.30pm – Brass Band play outside the church
2nd December	Concert Practice as usual at St Peter’s Church
3rd December	Christmas Concert 7pm at St Peter’s Church, March – arrive 6.30pm
4th December	March Christmas Market 11.20 – 11.40am – Concert Band at Market Square
9th December	St Peter’s Christmas Tree Festival 6pm to 8pm at St Peter’s Church – all FMC

FMCA sessions finish after the concert on 3rd December and start again on 6th January 2023.

Thank you all for your continued support – have a great Christmas & New Year!

Dear FMCA members and supporters,

Thank you for continuing to support FMC and please continue to ask anyone you know who plays an instrument or has played in the past, to join our community music group! Thanks also to those who played at The Chatteris Music Society – we had lovely comments about the standard of playing and £70 was donated. Grateful thanks to March Rotary who donated £225 to FMC last term and to members and friends who have donated the money for running costs, the website and church concert hire.

Covid restrictions – these have been lifted by government but please consider wearing a mask if someone you live or work with has Covid, as cases are high. Hand sanitiser is still available to use in the church.

Membership fees – please remember to pay promptly by bank transfer if you have online banking using the player’s name as a reference, otherwise please put cash or cheque into a named envelope and give it to Harriet – cost is £20 student, £30 adult and £50 family.

Diary Dates

22nd April	FMC returns for summer term.
24th April	St Georges Fair 11am – concert band only. Please arrive at 10.40am at the Broad St stage in the marketplace. We are playing for 20 minutes. Please remember to bring a stand, pegs and instrument.
2nd May	FMCA concert committee – meeting time TBA.
18th June	Coffee Concert 11am with String Ensemble & Recorder Consort. Free 40-minute informal concert in St Peter’s Church. Concert dress – all black with brightly coloured tie/scarf.
24th June	Concert Practice 6pm onwards at St Peters Church.
25th June	FMC Concert 7pm at St Peters Church. Concert dress – all black with brightly coloured tie/scarf. Help from friends/family members appreciated on the door/selling raffle tickets/helping with refreshments.
1st July	AGM 7.00pm at St Peter’s Church. All members and parents/carers and supporters are welcome. Followed by an FMCA full committee meeting.
16th September	FMC Autumn term begins.

Social Media – please check this website regularly for updates to information on FMC news, policies and engagements/concerts. Please remember to subscribe, follow and spread FMC news through social media so that more people know who we are. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Photographs – If you take any photographs or video at FMC events, please can you email copies to us at fenlandmusiccentreassociation@gmail.com to use for our social media accounts, website and publicity? This will also help us to add to FMC’s visual archive. We will always check with our permissions on the registration forms before posting or publishing any photos. Photos below are all from the March light switch-on, March Xmas Market, St Peter’s Christmas Tree Festival and the FMC Christmas Concert.

Tuck shop – The tuckshop is currently available between orchestra and concert band – profits from drinks and snacks helps towards our running costs, so please support it by buying drinks and snacks during the break after orchestra.

Easter Raffle – Thank you to everyone who donated prizes and bought tickets. We raised £67.

Please can you help? Please speak to Nyree, Maxine or Harriet if you wish to be involved in deciding the direction FMC takes in the future as we would like to work with 2 more people willing to be FMC trustees. If you have ideas for fundraising to cover FMC running costs, please tell us. We urgently need an adult member, parent or carer who is willing to work with us to find grant funding and donors/sponsorship. If we raise more money, we can extend our hire space on Fridays and run more groups of varying ability levels and/or more specialised groups (such as a wind ensemble, junior strings, training/intermediate orchestra, brass ensemble). You can email in ideas or speak to us if you can offer help with any of this. Thank you.