A £15,000 grant from Manx Lottery Trust is helping an island charity to reach more people, despite coronavirus hitting its normal work.

Singing Jo & Co was established in March 2018 to help children to learn through action songs, dancing, rhymes, music and drama.

Usually, sessions are held at venues around the island weekly and are enjoyed by around 600 babies, toddlers, pre-school and school reception children.

In recent months, Singing Jo & Co has invited elderly people from care homes to join in too.

In March, Singing Jo & Co suspended all sessions because of the impact of Covid-19.

It then began to provide sessions online through live video, meaning up to 1,000 families can take part in each 45-minute session.

Preparations are also in place to launch a YouTube channel.

Similar to the usual group sessions, the online sessions run Monday to Friday and are free to join.

The charity asks for a donation from those taking part to help with the running costs.

The funding from Manx Lottery Trust, in addition to help and support offered by other groups and individuals, has enabled Singing Jo & Co to continue to offer its programme in the island and now internationally.

Founder Jo Jackson said: ’The grant from Manx Lottery Trust has enabled us to make the switch from delivering our regular sessions to the live sessions online. Without its help, we may have had to suspend our sessions completely.

’There is a lot of heartache and uncertainty around us at the moment, with no definitive answers of when it is going to end. Any form of escapism can help, and in our case this is singing, dancing and having enormous amounts of fun.

’Singing is guaranteed to lift spirits and create an instant feeling of happiness and warmth.

’A 45-minute session with Singing Jo & Co not only provides valuable learning for the little ones, but also keeps us active and brings joy.

’These sessions are also important in providing continuity and helping our little singers and their parents to carry out normal routines.

’Being at home for such an extended time can lead to anxiety and social isolation, so being able to continue our sessions in a familiar format can be a great comfort and act as a welcome distraction for everybody.

’Further down the line, and once some sort of normality resumes, we will also be looking to develop regular collaborative sessions with care homes thanks to the Manx Lottery Trust funding. We have received fantastic feedback on these sessions, and they’re a great way to promote friendship and inclusion. The oldest participant we had was 98!’

Singing Jo & Co works alongside a number of other charity organisations, the Department of Education, Sport and Culture and the health visiting teams. These sessions focus on developing communication, language, literacy and numeracy skills, and promoting emotional and physical skills and friendships.

The chairman of Manx Lottery Trust, Sarah Kelly, said: ’Singing Jo & Co sessions are popular island-wide with parents and carers of pre-schoolers, and, of course, the children themselves, who enjoy learning through song and dance.

’Moving the sessions online and expanding the group to include older people is a very positive way of tackling the issue of social isolation.’