Cardiff University’s Outreach Scheme
28th November 2025
How Cardiff University’s Outreach Scheme Impacts Students of All Ages
‘The Paul Robeson Ambassadorship Scheme’ provides opportunities for music undergraduates at Cardiff University, funded by the Paul Robeson Wales Trust, to undertake widening participation and outreach activities. We spoke to Dr Cameron Gardner, a Senior Lecturer in Music and Lead for Music Education and Outreach at Cardiff University, to find out more about the scheme and how it has allowed the university to engage with younger people in schools.
The Paul Robeson Ambassadorship Scheme seeks to inform and preserve the legacy of Robeson, an African American singer-actor and civil rights activist of the last century, for students of different ages in South Wales, through music, sound and story.
I oversee and manage the students in creating multimedia resources (including soundscapes involving the distinct sound of Robeson’s bass-baritone voice and coal mining), drawing upon his biography, discography and broadcasting to link his legacy as an African American championing the miners of South Wales to current issues of race, immigration and community. The approach has to appeal to the audience by engaging them with opportunities to communicate their political and social concerns in a safe and sensitive environment.
It has been fantastic to see how effectively music students adapt the story of Robeson to a multicultural audience of today through collaboration with schools, music services, and communities of disability and ethnic diversity in concerts, workshops and presentations. A recent surprise has been that our students, whilst rehearsing with schoolchildren from Caerphilly, heard from one of the directors that his grandfather befriended Robeson soon after arriving in Cardiff in the 1930s as a refugee from Spain!
Working with many schools with widening participation backgrounds helps to address their key curricula and resource objectives as well as our own (a Community in Music module will appear in our new BA in Music for 27/28 entry). At the same time, our Robeson ambassadors develop their skills in teaching, mentoring and leadership to impact their own studies and beyond. A huge portfolio of partnerships has consequently emerged, not only with educational institutes but with refugee groups, nearby community projects and organisations for people with visual impairment and neurodiversity.
For Cardiff University, the Paul Robeson ambassadors have also regularly contributed to key events in the EDI calendar, such as Black History Month and International Women’s Day, and attracted interest from local and national media. All of this would not have been possible without the help and support of Beverly Humphreys, OBE, alumna of the School of Music and co-founder of the Paul Robeson Wales Trust.
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