Cloth Cat is a music/education charity based in inner city Leeds supporting those at most disadvantage living in neglected parts of the city. They help people to gain control over their lives and find avenues into employment, further education and other positive social activity by providing a range of inclusive and creative projects, courses and events so that people gain the opportunity to learn a range of musical and personal skills.
Prior to the UK-wide lockdown of society due to the Covid-19 crisis, Cloth Cat had been fulfilling their mission through a youth music education and mentoring project, called Get Your Act Together; a music and art course for men suffering from depression and low mood called Man About Town; and providing a variety of other music courses and open mic sessions for their beneficiaries and the wider community.
After lockdown was announced, Cloth Cat, like every organisation, had to decide how to respond and adapt. They decided to not take advantage of the government furlough scheme, opting instead to continue to meet the needs of their beneficiaries as best as possible. They did this by very quickly adapting their practice and gaining the support of their funders. For the Get Your Act Together project, Cloth Cat decided to continue with a second term with all the course material being broadcast live on YouTube for the enrolees. This material is now available everyone for free on their YouTube channel. To date, all the youth who originally enrolled on the programme have continued in this fashion. New enrolment has stalled, however, highlighting the importance of establishing a relationship in person before moving completely online.
The Man About Town project was more difficult to continue online, but those involved have continued to stay in touch and have continued to write songs together. One event was held on Zoom. The focus here is on maintaining their social contacts and developing their social networks so that they feel able to develop music and art on their own.
Being a small organisation with a clear mission statement and a largely digital-savvy client-group, Cloth Cat has been able to be agile in its practices while still fulfilling the criteria stipulated by their funders. They continue to provide social connection and encouragement to their beneficiaries through music in the online world, which has been especially important during this isolating time.
Find their YouTube channels here: