Enjoyable, music, and fundraising at Parallel Windsor, Festival of Inclusivity

Amber was delighted to be a charity companion at this 12 months’s Parallel Windsor Festival.

On Sunday sixth July, the gorgeous setting of Windsor Great Park turned a hub of inclusivity, with actions for folks of all talents to take pleasure in starting from climbing to sport, music performances and comedy.

The solar shone (between occasional rainstorms!) and the Amber crew was out in pressure, flying the flag for imaginative and prescient impaired musicians.

We supplied an auditory exercise for the Super Sensory Challenge, involving multi-coloured handbells and a specifically composed soundscape. Hundreds of individuals joined us to play the bells and dance within the sunshine.

[Image descriptions: 1. Poppy, 12, is outside standing in front of a table of brightly coloured handbells. Each handbell sits on top of a round cardboard disc correlating to the colour of the handbell. Poppy is smiling and interacting with the handbells. 2. A photo of the outdoor handbell setup. There are 6 tables full of handbells with a walkway in between. ‘Amber provided an auditory activity involving multi-coloured handbells and a specially composed soundscape.’]

Putting the ‘fun’ into fundraising

[Image description: A photo of Dan, Stan and Vince appears at the top. They are holding their Parallel Windsor medals and are standing next to the finish line of the 5k race. Beneath this sits a photo of Poppy with her dad, Pete, who stand each side of a large roller banner for The Amber Trust. ‘Team Amber raised a total of £850 in aid of Amber at Parallel Windsor! Dan, Stan and Vince raised £505; Poppy and Pete raised £345.’]

Time for music

As nicely as the various actions and fundraising occasions taking place all through the day, two Amber Music Awardees wowed members with performances on the open-air stage. Chapman and Benjamin every performed piano and so they completely loved performing on the ‘Festival of Inclusivity’. 

Benjamin explains: “I was quietly nervous about playing at the open-air festival, since I’d never done it before. But once I started, I relaxed and really enjoyed performing outside. The crowd gave me a big round of applause at the end, which felt amazing. It was a great day out, thank you to Amber and the Parallel Festival for the experience!”   

Chapman, who lately appeared on hit Channel 4 programme, The Piano, performed a classical piece impressed by his hometown, Hong Kong.

Chapman’s mother and father, Chun and Jenny, shared what it means for his or her son to carry out at occasions like this: “Chapman really enjoyed performing here at Windsor, especially able to share his own improvisations and compositions. It means a lot to see him express his thoughts and emotions through his own music, it really is true what they say: when words fail, music speaks. Thank you to Amber and Parallel Windsor for this wonderful event.” 

[Image descriptions: 1: Chapman and Benjamin stand side by side in a big field with a colourful marquee behind them. Chapman is wearing dark glasses, a white shirt, and his cane. Benjamin wears dark glasses and a blue shirt with a leaf pattern. A quote from Chapman’s parents reads: ‘It means a lot to see Chapman express his thoughts and emotions through his own music, it really is true what they say: when words fail, music speaks.’ 2.Two photos of Benjamin. The one at the top shows Benjamin holding a bird of prey on his arm. In the second photo, Benjamin is sitting at the keyboard on stage, with his ‘thumbs up’ to the camera. A quote from Benjamin reads: ‘I was quietly nervous about playing at the open-air festival…the crowd gave me a big round of applause at the end, which felt amazing.’]