BARNSLEY, 3^rd March 2023: Barnsley Youth Choir today announces a partnership with ASOS, the global online fashion destination. ASOS has become a Major Corporate Sponsor, providing new funding to support access to the choir for local children.

The choir is a charity run by volunteers that relies on the support of the community to provide outstanding opportunities for children and young people across the Barnsley Borough. The sponsorship will support with running costs and help the choir to provide additional support to struggling families through its bursary scheme. ASOS joins Barnsley College as a Major Corporate Sponsor of the choir.

ASOS’ flagship UK fulfilment centre located at Great Houghton opened in 2011 and is the largest private sector employer in the Borough with c.4.000 people working at the site. The retailer is already active in the local community through existing partnerships with Centrepoint, OnSide Youth Zone, the Prince’s Trust, and the Proud of Barnsley Awards. In addition to becoming a Major Corporate Sponsor, ASOS will also sponsor the choir’s Gala Dinner taking place in the Spring, a major fundraising event for the organisation.

Mat Wright MBE, Artistic Director of Barnsley Youth Choir said: “We are pleased to have agreed this partnership and we are enormously grateful to ASOS for making this commitment to young people in the town. This money will support the choir and its members, many of whom face significant financial challenges and struggle to pay even heavily subsidised costs. It was clear that, even in initial discussions, ASOS is an organisation that genuinely cares about the local community and this support will have a positive impact on the 500+ children that now access our provision. We look forward to working together and hope that this is the start of a long-lasting and positive relationship for ASOS, the choir and the town.” 

Chris Smith, UK & ROW Director of Logistics at ASOS said: “The people of Barnsley have been pivotal to the growth and success of ASOS and that’s why we’re delighted to give back to the community and support the inspirational Barnsley Youth Choir. Our purpose is to give people the confidence to be whoever they want to be and that is exactly what the choir seeks to do for young people in the Borough. We can’t wait to attend our first concert!”

Notes to Editors 

About ASOS

ASOS is a destination for fashion-loving 20-somethings around the world, with a purpose to give its customers the confidence to be whoever they want to be. Through its market-leading app and mobile/desktop web experience, available in ten languages and in over 200 markets, ASOS customers can shop a curated edit of nearly 70,000 products, sourced from nearly 900 of the best global and local partner brands and its mix of fashion-led own-brand labels – ASOS Design, ASOS Edition, ASOS 4505, Collusion, Reclaimed Vintage, Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT. ASOS aims to give all its customers a truly frictionless experience, with an ever-greater number of different payment methods and hundreds of local deliveries and return options, including Next-Day Delivery and Same-Day Delivery, dispatched from state-of-the-art fulfilment centres in the UK, US and Germany.

Barnsley Youth Choir

BYC was established in 2009 by conductor Mat Wright and Keith Norton. It is a registered charity run by volunteers that seeks to provide outstanding opportunities for young people who live in Barnsley and has developed a reputation for excellence. The choir is ranked 5th in the Interkultur World Rankings (the highest ranked choir from GB) and has won 8 first prizes in some of the most important international competitions in the world. BYC is first and foremost a community choir serving an area of deprivation where over 1 in 4 children live in poverty. The choir is highly inclusive and has 7 sections, from BYC Little Singers (0-4 years old) to BYC Senior Choir (14 – 24 years old) and in total now has over 500 young people involved.

Barnsley Youth Choir was presented with the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (MBE) in January 2018 in recognition of the outstanding support and dedication shown by the volunteer team that helps to run it. Its Chairperson, Ann Wroe, was one of 70 people nationally awarded the Queens Jubilee Award for her outstanding contribution to the community. It has won numerous awards locally and internationally for the work that it does. BYC has also released 2 albums, performed on national TV and Radio and has raised significant amounts of money for local charities. In 2022, the choir also gave a sterling performance on ITV’s ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ where the young members and the team received a standing ovation and four Yes’s from the judges. 

The choir has worked with some of the world’s finest conductors and choirs in this country and abroad on a number of international tours, and has appeared in some of the most important international venues. BYC is unusual in that it maintains a wide and diverse repertoire including Popular, Gospel, Spiritual, Folk and more Classical genres, and audiences appreciate the variety of music performed in concerts. At its heart the choir seeks to educate young people and works hard to provide support to other organisations throughout the world. The choir has formed exciting partnerships with international composers, choral organisations and educational establishments and seeks to widen its impact within and beyond the borough.  

Further information about Barnsley Youth Choir can be found at https://www.barnsleyyouthchoir.org.uk

The Choir on Britain’s Got Talent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK32sGDfO7s

The Choir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc5M7kAj4iY