Get to know us

Get to know Johnny's story

From an early age Johnny was creative and imaginative. It was little wonder then that he taught himself how to play numerous instruments and began writing songs. In their teens Johnny and friends formed a band; Starboard Jubilee.

Johnny wrote many songs and lyrics and soon they were performing live. He taught himself how to record music, leaving us a huge library of demos, fragments of songs and ideas. We are still discovering mp3s and videos of him performing to this day.

When Johnny passed away tragically of heart failure in June 2022 family and friends were left heartbroken and devastated. We all wanted to be part of making Johnny’s name live forever in the way he would have wanted it to, through music.

What we do

At the Johnny Alfrey Music Memorial, we aim to create a platform on which young aspiring musicians can showcase their creative skills, plan events and play alongside established bands to a wider audience. We are a non-profit organisation launched in April 2023 with a fantastic multistage event held each year to celebrate the achievements of all the young people involved. See our pictures here from our Launch event with 90s legends, The Bluetones!…..

Our Vision

We want to inspire music lovers, enable young musicians, raise self-esteem and confidence in young performers and producers, and foster a sense of purpose and belonging in communities. We want to remove barriers and give our beneficiaries the opportunity to use a broad range of skills that will ensure they can live for the music they love. We are about expression, ownership and empowerment from the level of individuals through to communities. This is a legacy to Johnny Alfrey who died of sudden heart failure aged just 22. His love of original live music inspired us to create opportunities for other young people in his name.

We have many young members (beneficiaries) and the number is growing. Many of these have neurodiverse needs and/or social anxiety and offer unique skill sets and interests (not just music-related) including video, photography and media, art and design, IT and web design, playing instruments, singing, mixing using software and many more talents that can all be used collaboratively to create live events. Many neurodivergent young people have unrecognised talent and fewer opportunities due to social barriers. We want to hone their strengths and increase confidence through tailored mentoring and workshops. They will have a shared experience in producing an annual event making them feel part of an inclusive and safe community where they are understood and valued. Throughout the year they will be involved in smaller projects, fostering social and team building skills as well as celebrating individual strengths.

Inclusivity

We are a fully inclusive organisation and welcome members from, but not limited to, under-represented or disadvantaged backgrounds, the LGBTQ community, females, black and ethnic minority people, neurodiverse people and disabled people.

We welcome:

Young people aged 10 to 30 with a music-event related skill and/or a passion for live music.

Those who face social and emotional barriers who want to be involved in our music community.

People of any race, gender, social class, cultural background, sexuality, ability or religion.

Our Board

At JAMM we have a board comprising 60% people under 30. Our beneficiaries (age 10-30) are growing in number. They have unique skillsets and interests including video, photography, media, design, IT/web design, playing instruments, singing, mixing and many more talents used to create our live events.

Our volunteer base grows by word of mouth and through our events. We are looking at how we can extend and develop our network to bring greater resource into JAMM.

JAMM was founded by Johnny’s parents, Julie Alfrey and Chris Charnley. They are both from a background in education. Chris is also a musician and Julie is a Child Psychologist. We have a handful of dedicated friends and family who bring unique skills sets to our organisation from engineering, and project management to sound tech skills.