Runners Fundraise for Community Band, Phoenix Concert Band, at Leeds Abbey Dash
19 November 2025
Rebecca Ellis first picked up a saxophone aged nine and music has been a big part of her life ever since. So now she’s lacing up her trainers to run 10km and raise funds for a charity that gives a voice to children and young people with complex needs through music.
A former teacher of children with special educational needs and disabilities, Rebecca is now executive director of Jessie’s Fund, a York-based charity which works across the UK to help children with additional needs or life-limiting illness to communicate by using music.
Rebecca will be running in aid of Jessie’s Fund with four of her fellow musicians at the Leeds Abbey Dash. The team are all members of Phoenix Concert Band, a community band which draws woodwind, brass and percussion players from across the Leeds area.
Jessie’s Fund is celebrating its 30th birthday in 2025, and while they celebrate the last three decades, all money raised will help the charity build for the next three decades and beyond. To date the charity has:
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established music therapist roles in 44 children’s hospices
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provided musical instruments for almost all of the UK’s 54 hospice services for children
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trained over 800 members of care teams to use music with the young people in their care
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funded or part-funded nearly 12,000 community music therapy sessions
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set up a nationwide interactive music programme which has reached 300 school settings for children with special needs.
Rebecca said: “We’re hugely proud of what we’ve done over the last 30 years, however our impact is so much more than a list of achievements. We’re building a sustainable network through our projects and there is an element of training in everything we do. This way we are empowering children, families and those who work with them to use music as a means of expression and connection, for the best sustainable outcomes.”
Find out more about Jessie’s Fund:
