FOLLOWING Frome College’s ‘fantastic’ Frome Busks event, £433 was raised for the college’s music department.
For the third year running, the event, that took place on Saturday 9th March, saw young musicians from the college perform live across eight stages around the town centre.
The event was run in collaboration between Frome Town Council and Frome College.
Head of performing arts at the college, Josh Hampson said, “We’ve got a really vibrant music department at the college, with loads of performers. One of the big things for us is fundraising: to run events and provide ourselves with equipment and music classes for our students. So that’s the idea behind Frome Busks, and it also gets the youth of Frome seen in a positive light, out in public, doing something really impressive, with Frome Town Council.
“Teenagers today have so many things available to them, like social media, the internet, things they can learn from, which is incredible, but there are a lot of stresses, like online bullying. It can be a very intense environment for some of them. With music – the musos find each other. They find their place in the music department, they develop confidence, make friends like themselves. By the time they leave us in year 13 they’ve grown and developed, which is such a special thing to see as a teacher, and as a musician who had a similar journey myself. It’s a big deal for a 14-year-old to come out in public and play and sing, which is why events like this are so important – it really improves their confidence.”
The town council’s marketing and communications manager, Rachel Griffin said, “We’re so lucky to have such a talented, amazing music department up at the college and work with Josh on this fantastic event. It makes the town come to life, it’s just a happy, brilliant event. They’ve got a school that’s happy to support them to come out and perform and at Frome Town Council, we’re happy to be able to give them performance opportunities. The shopkeepers love it, it brings loads of people into the town. It’s just a brilliant day.”
The event will be back in 2025.