Josie Dear...Why I Decided to set up my own Charity ~ by Minnie Birch

     

     Over the years I have done lots of voluntary work and a lot of that has been in prison settings working on projects that reflect two of my biggest passions: Stories and Music. (I must say I have also had the great opportunity of being employed at different times by wonderful charities and organisations who have paid me to do this work!)
     During these years of working and volunteering, I've had moments where I have had ideas of things we could be doing to contribute to the rehabilitative culture of prisons. I haven’t always been able to action them very easily, or at all, because of lack of funding, or once I get the funding, there are major processes for getting that money cleared and to a point where I can action it.
     When I went to apply for funding, many of my ideas didn’t fall neatly under one bracket. Was it an arts project? A literacy project? Something for local people? My ideas didn’t fit neatly and so this shut me out of being able to apply a lot of the time. My ideas were simply about trying to bring joy to people in challenging times.
     So, I launched my own charity, Josie Dear, and we set about our first campaign. Here are the details of that campaign…
     I have had some great success over the last year bringing performers into prison settings to share their music and their life stories. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with comments such as:
     “For an evening I was removed from my stress and worries.”
     “Someone like Joe giving their time to come in and perform for us is really nice. It reminds you there are people who will still do something for you even now.”
     “Music brought us all together. I felt unity here with everyone.”
     Most musicians are willing to come to us for free or for a very reduced fee, but I would love to be able to offer people travel expenses and buy them dinner or lunch at the very least.
     So far my campaign has raised over £400 which allows me to keep putting on events and bringing musicians into prison settings to share their passions and their stories.
     Why did I call the charity Josie Dear?

     “I know you love me, Josie, dear. Your heart was ever fond and true.” These were the adapted words to “I will take you home again Kathleen,” which I had the honour of singing at my Grandma’s funeral, chosen by my Granpa as the perfect way to say goodbye to his little Irish sweetheart of 60+ years.
     My Granma was full of love and joy. If I told you I had a little Irish Nanna who was full of joy and sometimes very naughty, then whatever stereotypes you are conjuring up in your mind, that was my Granma.
     She would dance and sing and make naughty jokes with the lightest heart and this little Irish lilt that never seemed to fade, no matter how long she lived away from the Emerald Isles.
   

 She also wasn’t someone who took any BS. She was forward speaking. You knew if she disliked you and she didn’t have much time for nonsense.
     So, if I wanted to do more to spread some joy but didn’t want to deal with some of the barriers that were in my way, to set up on my own and start making a difference…well Josie, my Granma, seemed the perfect person to do that in honour of.

Spread a little Joy. Cut out the nonsense 😊

Minnie Birch is a singer/songwriter from the UK and a regular contributor to Originality by Design. If you are interested in learning more about Minnie's charity, click JOSIE DEAR.