Dear INTRA families and friends,

A very big welcome back. We are so excited to start the new academic year. 

Free Band clubs in your school

We are now working in Acland Burghley School, Haverstock School, La Sainte Union, Parliament Hill School and William Ellis School and clubs start this week. All clubs are free to attend and are open to all. Please spread the word, especially to new year 7s joining secondary school and let’s get as many children as possible having fun making music, trying new instruments and meeting new friends.

Free Events kicking off with Barfly

Our first gig this season is at Barfly Camden on Sunday 20th September. This is the first of our monthly residencies at this legendary Camden venue and will feature ten INTRA acts. Tickets are free and available here. Be quick if you’d like to come as it’s just about to sell out! Our INTRA Open Mic - New Bands Special will be on 21st November at The Camden Club so if you know a young band that’d like to get involved, this is the perfect gig. More news on other gigs and workshops soon.

INTRA Singles Club

A recurring request at our Youth Roundtables has been to make and release records so we are especially pleased to announce the launch of the brand new INTRA Singles Club. Each single will be a limited edition, hand numbered CD featuring a song by an INTRA band. Look out for INTRA001 and INTRA002 at Barfly! No spoilers…

Your help

The last 18 months have been stellar - the kids have been amazing, playing at 21 events to combined audiences of over 5000 people. They have sold out the Jazz Cafe, played every community event in town, written songs, made records and had a whole lot of fun playing music and making new friends whilst learning life-defining skills. 

We don’t get any funding from the Council and everything we do is free. We really need your help to keep creating all the exciting things the kids are asking to do. Very specifically we’d love your help introducing us to potential patrons who’d be excited by what we’re doing and would like to contribute financially. Our events are entirely staffed by volunteers and if every band could put forward a volunteer a gig that would be much appreciated. We are aware that many parents in this group have great links into the music industry – if there are music, career or personal development opportunities we can open up for the hundreds of children who participate in INTRA, please do let us know. 

So for now, we’re off to hand number those CDs and polish up the guitars for Sunday. Can’t wait.

Best wishes,

Team INTRA

Dear families,

What a year it has been. It has been amazing to watch our children’s confidence grow, make friends, and share so much music. We’ve watched our younger musicians take their very first steps onto the stage and begin writing their own songs, while our older musicians are now stepping up to lead, putting on their own shows, recording in the studio, and steering our youth roundtables while mentoring the next generation.

From first-time nerves to pro sets, our children have owned the stage at 21 different events since 2025, including iconic spots like the Jazz Cafe and The Black Heart. They have played to a whopping combined audience of over 5000 people and it’s all been free.

We’ve teamed up with some amazing organisations - alongside the Camden venues mentioned above we’ve also collaborated with local legends Young Camden Foundation, The Apex Project, NW5 Club, Roundhouse and HVH Arts to make sure as many children as possible are able to join the fun. We also continue to work side-by-side with our local secondary schools with weekly free band clubs and workshops and have also mended about 100 guitars locally!

We’ve got some ambitious plans for next year - all led by our kids. In December we have a golden opportunity to raise £20K to support more gigs, more workshops, more clubs and more music. We are waiting on the final selection, but because we’ve already secured matched funding, we have a massive head start and every £1 donated will be doubled. This year, your generous donations at gigs raised £6,000. If we can match that energy in December, we will hit our target and keep the music free for everybody.

And finally, it is with pride (and a little sadness) that we wave goodbye to some epic bands and musicians who have been with us from the start. Next year will be the first year of the INTRA Alumni group and we look forward to some kickass reunion gigs. We are delighted that  several students will be joining the INTRA team in paid roles to help with sound, marketing, videography and mentoring.

Thank you to all of you who have donated your time, thinking, and energy into what we’re doing and the active role many of you have taken in helping to steer the charity through the regular feedback. This is a special musical family, and as parents ourselves, we are proud to be part of it with you.

Have a wonderful, restful summer break.

Best wishes,

Team INTRA