Heather Powell Nominated for Prestigious Wales Care Award

The founder of the North Wales Music Cooperative, Heather Powell, is a finalist for the esteemed Wales Care Award. This nomination acknowledges her significant contributions to ensuring music education remains accessible in schools across Wrexham, Denbighshire, and Conwy. The awards ceremony will take place in Cardiff on October 17, celebrating unsung heroes in the social care sector.

Established in 2015, the cooperative emerged after funding cuts for peripatetic music teachers in Denbighshire. The initiative quickly expanded to Wrexham two years later when similar funding issues arose. Recently, the cooperative has also begun providing music lessons in Conwy, demonstrating its commitment to music education across the region.

The North Wales Music Cooperative offers music lessons to children in various educational settings, including mainstream schools, specialist education facilities, and home-schooled students. It employs over 90 freelance musicians and reaches approximately 7,000 children weekly.

Heather Powell emphasized the cooperative’s mission: “The cooperative has always been about ensuring that every child has access to music, irrespective of their financial background, whether they are in care, whether they have additional needs. I know what the power of music brings, especially to the more vulnerable children; it is huge for their wellbeing and their mental health.”

Reflecting on the cooperative’s growth, she remarked, “If somebody had told me that 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have believed them. The cooperative started just as an idea to keep music going, and it has developed into a huge organization involving over 100 people and thousands of children and young people.”

The chair of the cooperative, Councillor Mark Young, recognized Heather’s dedication, stating, “She has never given up, despite all the challenges. She is a force of nature and a real inspiration. Every teacher, every lesson delivered is an endorsement of their good work because music is so important to young people’s wellbeing and for Welsh culture.”

Mario Kreft MBE, Chair of Care Forum Wales, highlighted the importance of the awards, stating, “Care Forum Wales has been working tirelessly for more than 30 years to promote the social care sector. We established the Wales Care Awards to show our appreciation to the workforce and the wider sector for the remarkable and vitally important contribution everybody makes, day in day out.”

The recognition of Heather Powell and the North Wales Music Cooperative underscores the critical role that access to music education plays in fostering community well-being and enhancing cultural richness. As the organization continues to grow, it remains dedicated to its mission of making music accessible to every child, regardless of their circumstances.