Folk Unlimited
Join us for creative, inclusive, multi-sensory music-making sessions for disabled young people, led by Emmie Ward with a team of other folk artists.
Who is it for?
For disabled 12–30 year olds, their friends, parents and carers. Open to all abilities and levels of experience.
Young people need to live in, or be registered at a school/college in, one of these London boroughs: Barnet, Brent, Camden, City of London, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.
At Folk Unlimited you can:
- Learn to sing and play songs and tunes from Britain and across the globe
- Discover and explore instruments and accessible technology
- Learn new skills with fantastic tutors
- Make new friends
If you want to, you can also:
- Work towards a Discover Arts Award (if you are under 25)
You do not need any experience of playing an instrument or folk music to take part in Folk Unlimited.
Love music? We want you to join us!
In addition to our face-to-face sessions we have created resources which can be used between sessions at times when it suits you. These are a good way of remembering what we have done or as a complement if your young person finds it hard to engage during a whole Sunday session.
Folk Unlimited sessions take place in our public venue on the basement floor which is accessible by lift from the outside of the building. Carers are welcome to join in too, or can wait in our lovely café just outside the rehearsal space. Other events will be running and our cafe will be open: we cannot therefore guarantee a nut-free environment.
When and where does it take place?
Sundays (6 per term) at Cecil Sharp House, 2-4pm
2022 dates
Spring 2022: Jan 16, 30 | Feb 13, 27 | Mar 13, 27
Summer 2022: Apr 24 | May 8, 22 | June 5, 12, 26
How much does it cost?
Term fee: £36 per term (advance booking required)
Single session: £6 (advance booking required)
Assistant / carer: free ticket (booking required)
We want everyone who is offered a place in Folk Unlimited to be able to take it up. Contact us if you need help with fees or transport costs at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 020 7241 8953
A link to an enrolment form will be sent to you in your booking confirmation email. Please look out for this and complete it on behalf of the young person attending these sessions as soon as possible after booking their place.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss your access requirements, please contact the Education department: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 020 7241 8953.
Covid-19 Statement
We are continuing a phased return to face-to-face teaching and expect that all of the advertised sessions will take place in person at Cecil Sharp House from September 2021. If for public health reasons we are unable to run classes in person, we intend to move sessions online using the Zoom-based model which we have been refining since the start of the pandemic.
We are a COVID-19 Secure venue. For more information, please visit our Covid Secure webpage.
Terms and conditions and Policies
Meet the Folk Unlimited team
Emmie Ward holds a PG CERT in music and special needs using Sound Of Intent with Roehampton University. She is a folk musician and works as a freelance music and folk arts practitioner and teaches a range of classes for people with learning disabilities. She specialises in using a multi sensory approach to storytelling and music. Emmie has worked in a variety of settings including Day Centres, FE colleges and schools where she has worked as a teacher for many years. Projects have included “Everybody Dance Company” a millennium funded dance project with performers with complex needs and working on the show “Weighting” by Extraordinary bodies an inclusive, touring circus. Emmie also teaches on the “Get Your Folk on” holiday workshops for young disabled people.
Nicholas Goode has been a professional musician for over twenty years. He studied for a degree in music at Anglia University and then gained a PGCE in SEN/Music at Roehampton, London. He has taught and led workshops across the age range from early years to adults and worked with students with a wide range of complex needs. Nick’s main instrument is the fiddle and he also plays mandolin, banjo and accordion. As a musician, he has performed at gigs and festivals with a number of bands and artists including Sam Lee and Helen O’Hara. He has participated on recordings for a number of artists, performs regularly at ceilidhs and leads two weekly sessions. In addition to his work as a musician and educator Nick also works extensively in theatre as a composer/arranger, as musical director and as an actor-musician.
Flora Dodd is our Inclusive Folk trainee music leader. A keen flautist, Flora enjoys exploring folk music from across Britain and beyond and has regularly performed at folk festivals, as both musician and dancer, and led music activities for young people in different settings, including working with children with SEND. Having obtained a 1st Class BA (hons) degree in Music from Durham University, Flora is currently studying for a master’s degree in Education in Arts and Cultural Settings at King’s College London and hopes to work within music education in the future.
The Carter’s Health
This song collected in Sussex (https://www.vwml.org/record/RoudFS/S140491) was part of our countryside theme in the summer term. The lyrics and hand movements are commands used by carters to control their horses. The video was made by our former trainee Alice Barnard.
Can you sing along with Alice, learn the movements, and connect them with the words?
“Hey” means “right”
“Re” means “left”
“Hoo” means “stop”
“Gee” means “go on”
Here are the lyrics to help you get started:
Of all the horses in the merry greenwood
The bobtailed mare bears the bells away.
There is Hey, there is Ree, there is Hoo, there is Gee,
But the bobtailed mare bears the bells away.
Hey, Ree, Hoo, Gee,
But the bobtailed mare bears the bells away.
Inclusive Folk
Inclusive Folk is a 3-year project which aims at improving access to folk music and dance education for people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. The project puts particular emphasis on working with young people with learning disabilities and complex needs (individuals with multiple and unique health and social care needs that affects their ability to participate in mainstream education and arts activities). The project is funded by John Lyon’s Charity (2020-2022) and supports activities in nine boroughs in West London. Inclusive Folk has several key strands:
- Folk Unlimited, fortnightly music making workshop at Cecil Sharp House
- Workshops at partner SEN settings in eligible boroughs
- Termly folk festival days at Cecil Sharp House for students from our partner settings
- Work placements at Cecil Sharp House for young people with learning disabilities
- Free SEN teaching resources for our award winning Resource Bank
- CPD events for educators on working with young people with SEN/D
In addition, the project is supporting EFDSS’ work to make our wider education programme and our venue more inclusive and accessible for all people.
Folk Unlimited is supported by John Lyon’s Charity.
If you have any questions about our programme for disabled young people, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 020 7241 8953.
