Today, its hall is full of pupils and staff. While most are sitting on small blue plastic chairs, a number of them are in wheelchairs. Some pupils vocalise or move around under the watchful eye of carers.
Electric Umbrella at the Wohl Campus Kisharon Noé School (Photo: Gaby Koppel)[Missing Credit]
In the middle of it all is Shaun. With a guitar slung around his neck, he keeps up an infectious stream of music, moving smoothly from I’m a Barbie Girl to Wheels on the Bus, via George Ezra’s Shotgun. What should be an incongruous medley seems to work because there is something for everybody. The music is like a heartbeat, pumping on and on, drawing in the distracted and lifting the mood.
“It’s just so joyful,’ says head Adina Collins. “It’s helping pupils to make connections with other people, and there’s just so much enjoyment. Even pupils who are really difficult to engage in the classroom really engage with Electric Umbrella.”
But it is very much a team effort. While Shaun leads the singing, Jonathan, Miles, Katy and Alice are bringing an injection of yellow energy into the room.
Electric Umbrella was founded 12 years ago by art therapist Mel Boda, together with musician Tom Billington, after they had seen just how few opportunities there were for people with learning disabilities to take to the stage. Since then, the organisation has become a real force to be reckoned with, delivering hundreds of hours of workshops annually both to mainstream schools and those for children with special needs and disabilities. Crucially, the teams delivering the workshops include people with learning disabilities and without, working side by side.
Electric Umbrella (Photo: Gaby Koppel)[Missing Credit]
This year, Electric Umbrella broke barriers with an appearance on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent, where a 34-strong group, all dressed in their signature sunshine yellow, performed original song There’s No Such Thing as Normal, alongside mainstream school pupils. The exuberant act took the audience by storm – and Simon Cowell, who gave them a bonus golden buzzer.
I arrive at Kisharon in time to see the Electric Umbrella team setting up their kit, recognising Katy as the singer who had the opening solo on BGT. While Miles and Jonathan are sorting out the technology, she tells me how exciting it was going to Blackpool for the recording. “The best moment,” she says, “was when Simon Cowell pressed the golden buzzer”. The rain of golden confetti is the ultimate BGT accolade. Jonathan says before he joined the group he was very shy. “Without these guys, I wouldn’t be here speaking to you now.”
Electric Umbrella first came to Kisharon four years ago and made such an impression that headteacher Adina Collins has become a trustee of the charity. Watching other learning disabled people excelling at performance is a huge eye-opener for her pupils and their parents.
Electric Umbrella celebrating their golden buzzer on Britain's Got Talent 2025 (Photo: ITV)[Missing Credit]
“Seeing young adults with disabilities doing something really amazing and being really celebrated for that, it’s inspiring for them,” she says. “It helps them be a bit more creative about what they could possibly achieve.”
Back in the hall, there is a moment when the music explodes from fun to full-on celebration. “Come on guys,” calls out Shaun. “You know the drill. When we sing something, you sing it back to us.” And they do. Jonathan belts out the verse in a lovely rich voice, and the kids join in excitedly.
Children sitting quietly in their chairs are also given their moment. Shaun goes up with his guitar and gently encourages them to sing a verse, or a line. When one girl is handed the mic and visibly glows with pleasure, I am wiping away tears.
Electric Umbrella will be appearing in Britain’s Got Talent semi-finals on ITV on Saturday May 10 at 7pm
