'On The Edge' Fusion Youth Orchestra
Charity 1152503
www.ontheedgefusionyouthorchestra.com
Overview
Summary
‘On The Edge’ Fusion Youth Orchestra appears to be a Birmingham-based music charity using youth music-making as a hub for wider intergenerational and community participation. Its model extends beyond an orchestra: it combines regular workshops, schools work, public events, intensive summer activity and volunteer development. The available evidence also suggests an organisation rebuilding partnerships and project activity after COVID-related disruption, with public performance serving both educational and community-connection purposes.
Operational geography
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
Bartley Green
Confidence: low
The organisation's live 'Find Us' page identifies Milebrook Hall, Bartley Green as the venue for its weekly music club. However, the page also refers to a workshop series launched in February 2017 and has no clear recent update date, so continued delivery at this venue cannot be confirmed.
- Official website, 'Where we at?' / Find Us page
States that the weekly music club is held at Milebrook Hall, Bartley Green, on Thursdays.
Remaining uncertainties
- The latest dated website update, published on 12 April 2024, confirms that the organisation had restarted activities in school, community and high-street venues, but does not name those venues or their Birmingham wards.
- The organisation's registered Harborne address should not be treated as a delivery site: the Charity Commission records that it does not own or lease land or property, and the website describes its registered office separately from its event venues.
- The official website says events and workshops take place across Birmingham, but the relevant Find Us content includes references to 2017 and does not establish the present-day venue network.
- The Charity Commission's current record declares operations in Birmingham City, Sandwell and Worcestershire, supporting a regional overall footprint; the available evidence does not identify the current delivery locations or scale of activity outside Birmingham.
Additional evidence needed
- A current programme timetable or venue list identifying the locations of weekly workshops, school outreach, community events, early-years activity and care-home activity.
- Confirmation from the organisation or current host venues that Milebrook Hall remains an active weekly music-club site.
- Current partnership or project information naming the schools, community venues and high-street venues involved since activities restarted in late 2023.
Areas of work
- Arts/culture/heritage/science
- Economic/community Development/employment
- Education/training
- General Charitable Purposes
- Other Charitable Purposes
Who they help
- Children/young People
- Elderly/old People
- People With Disabilities
- The General Public/mankind
How they help
- Provides Advocacy/advice/information
- Provides Buildings/facilities/open Space
- Provides Human Resources
- Provides Services
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
Youth music is the organisation’s core, but not its boundary
The organisation appears to use under-19 music provision as its central platform while extending participation to early-years groups, care homes and public audiences. This may indicate an intergenerational community-music model rather than a narrowly performance-focused youth orchestra.
Why it matters
This helps distinguish the organisation from youth ensembles whose primary role is progression for musicians: its potential value may also lie in connecting age groups and bringing music into community settings.
Show evidence
“Weekly music workshops for under 19 year old young people.”
Source:Organisation“Early Years music activities.”
Source:Organisation“Care Home music activities.”
Source:Organisation
Public performance appears to be both an outcome and a method
Concerts, outdoor events, community music events and recurring live-lunch listings suggest that public-facing music is not incidental. It may provide accessible points of contact between participants, local audiences and professional musicians.
Why it matters
This indicates that the organisation may contribute to Birmingham’s civic and cultural life through visible gathering spaces, not only through closed educational sessions.
Show evidence
“The charity object includes the presentation of public concerts and recitals.”
Source:Charity Commission“Community music events.”
Source:Organisation“Outdoor music events.”
Source:Organisation“The website lists OTE Live Lunch events featuring visiting musicians.”
Source:Charity Commission
The organisation may be rebuilding a partnership-dependent delivery model
The website’s reference to refreshing partnerships and establishing new projects after COVID disruption suggests that collaboration is important to delivery and that its current activity may be in a renewal phase.
Why it matters
This is relevant to prospective collaborators: the organisation may be especially open to new relationships, while also carrying residual uncertainty about which pre-pandemic activities have resumed.
Show evidence
“The organisation stated that it began refreshing partnerships and setting up new projects at the end of 2023, describing these as its first opportunities since COVID held it back.”
Source:Charity Commission“School outreach sessions.”
Source:Organisation“Volunteer arts management team programme.”
Source:Organisation
- Which schools, care homes, community venues or partners currently work with the organisation.
- Whether regular workshops and Streetestra are currently active, and how many people participate.
- How the volunteer arts-management programme develops skills or influences organisational capacity.
Remaining uncertainties
- A current programme calendar, participant numbers and geographic reach.
- Names and roles of delivery partners, venues and funders.
- Recent annual reports or evaluation evidence showing outcomes for participants and communities.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
Birmingham based. Weekly music workshops for under 19 year old young people. School outreach sessions. Community music events. Two week dance and music summer school. Outdoor music events. Volunteer arts management team programme. Early Years music activities. Care Home music activities.
Charity objects
TO ADVANCE, IMPROVE, DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN PUBLIC EDUCATION IN, AND APPRECIATION OF, THE ART AND SCIENCE OF MUSIC IN ALL ITS ASPECTS BY ANY MEANS THE TRUSTEES SEE FIT INCLUDING THROUGH THE PRESENTATION OF PUBLIC CONCERTS AND RECITALS.