Training Outreach and Community Burntwood's ongoing collaboration with the NOS has been wonderful for our students: for high achievers in the choir, it is an opportunity to work with the best in the business, providing inspiration to raise their own musical standards. Meeting NOS alumni like Nadine Benjamin and Caroline Jaya-Ratnam has proved to them that opera is for everyone, and has nothing to do with ethnicity or social background; visits to school assembly have carried this awareness through into the whole student body. Debbie Lammin BEMDirector, Burntwood Chamber Choir Education As part of our Business Plan 2018-22, one of our strategic objectives is to discover and inspire the seeds of talent through our creative engagement with children and young people. For the last two years, we have been working with local Artsmark Gold School, Burntwood School, to deliver joint projects, support young ambition and help to raise musical and performance standards. We are keen to identify other local schools committed to talent development and diversity, to share our expertise and knowledge and to inspire a love of music theatre in young people. We want to work with schools to identify and encourage early talent and influence the diversity of future artists and audiences. Community We invest in and contribute to our local community, and actively seek out opportunities for engagement and participation within the borough of Wandsworth and neighbouring areas. Our free ‘Wandsworth Wednesday’ recitals take place every month through the academic year, and we participate in the annual Wandsworth Arts Fringe and in other community events. Our CEO sits on the Wandsworth Town BID Board and we are active in helping to shape the cultural offer of Wandsworth Town. We contribute to local business issues and are keen to identify appropriate partnership opportunities for mutual benefit. The NOS remains an active member of the Wandsworth What Next? chapter, involved in shaping and responding to an enhanced cultural offer in the locality and opening up opportunities for collaboration. If you are a local school, business, community group, service provider or another group in Wandsworth or its environs who share our values and would like to discuss opportunities for collaboration, we would love to hear from you: [email protected] 020 8874 8811.