Where it all began
Folkestone First Timers was originally inspired by a Guardian article in October 2022 - A new start after 60: I joined a garage band and found my inner punk (click here to read it). It was about the experiences of someone later in life coming to music and the movement in Leicester was called Unglamorous Music run by the late Ruth Miller.
I was inspired not by the story but how it reminded me of the joy I got in learning music later in life. As a child I had no interest in anything other than listening to music. So it wasn’t until 2018 when I decided that it was time to learn to play an instrument. Buying a cheap keyboard on ebay and largely self-taught, music and keyboards have been a huge part of my life since then. You can see my first years of piano in a video below.
So with the support of friends and people who I didn’t know I thought let’s set up a programme here in Folkestone to help people make their musical dreams come true. What happened next is nothing less than incredible as you can see on the pages of this website and our social media. With the support of these fabulous people this would never have happened
Florence Glen
Vanessa Clark
Senet Yohannes
Nick Pollard
Wendy King
Ben Pinhorn
Pedro Dias
Lorraine Lucas
Debbie & Mark @20th Century Speedway