LITTLE Voices have announced that they will be launching a new centre in Ealing next month.

Little Voices offer drama and signing classes for children across the UK, with each branch being its own independent franchise.

One of these franchisees is Jemma Bird, who is preparing to launch her second centre in Ealing in January.

She told Nub News: "Since opening in 2018 we have become very popular with parents and felt like we needed to open a second centre in order to cope with the demand."

The coronavirus pandemic hasn't stopped Little Voices Ealing, with Bird highlighting how due to most schools cancelling their extra-curricular activities, more and more parents have turned to them.

She said: "During the first lockdown we kept going virtually and when we re-started physical classes in September, we saw a big increase in sign ups.

"We pride ourselves in keeping our classes small so that each child will be heard, so we had to start more classes to cope with the demand.

"The fact that we have a maximum of eight kids in each class also worked in our favour following the end of the first lockdown, as other venues had to cut down their class sizes due to new government rules, but we didn't, because we were well below the allowed number."

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The new classes will start on January 19 and will be available every Tuesday at St Mary's Church.

Bird, who works as a music teacher at a school in Fulham believes extra-curricular activities are very important for children's mental health.

She said: "At Little Voices children can build close bonds with each other and feel supported.

"At the same time we also want to help them improve their communication and social skills.

"It's like a second family here and lockdown proved that, because we were still there, we didn't shut down and we allowed children to continue doing the thing they love, be that drama or singing or both."