The Man About Town Music Group brings music to the community

By Helen Fay

The Man About Town project in Leeds is bringing music into the community by organizing a series of concerts in community centers and lunch clubs.

The project is a suicide prevention and men’s mental health initiative facilitated by the charity Cloth Cat Music in collaboration with Creative Frame CIC. The project also runs a walking group on Sunday mornings in locations around Leeds.

The Music Group is currently based at Lovell Park Hub and meets every Wednesday morning between 10am and 12pm to play music and learn new songs.

The group started as a ukulele group when in 2021 one of the MAT walking group members said he could teach others to play the ukulele. The members accepted the challenge and learned to play the instrument for years to come. The group has grown from strength to strength and now has a large repertoire of songs to perform.

The group played at Unity Day and also had open mic gigs at the Pack Horse in Woodhouse. Group facilitator and Creative Frame director Jonathan Parker came up with the idea of ​​taking the group out about once a month to play songs in community groups.

The first community gig was held at Armley Helping Hands lunch club in Strawberry Lane on 1st May. The music went down well with the lunch club members and the group are now looking forward to their second free community concert, which will be held at New Wortley Community Center on June 5 from 11am in the Information Café. All are welcome to come and listen to the group piece.

The group is always looking for new members at all levels of musical ability and anyone interested in joining the music group or walking group should contact Jonathan in the first instance at [email protected].

Also, any community centers or other organizations interested in having the group play at their venue on a Wednesday morning should contact Jonathan on the above email address.