Another incredible organisation making a real difference here in Wigan is Pianos, Pies and Pirouettes CIC, and at the heart of it is a story that really stays with you.
Founded by performing arts professionals Alan Gregory and Donna Harrison, the organisation is built on a simple belief: the arts should be for everyone. For Alan, though, this isn’t just a slogan. It comes from lived experience, loss, and the way music quite literally carried him through the hardest time in his life.
Based at Sunshine House Community Centre in Scholes, they offer everything from dance and yoga to piano, guitar and singing, alongside holiday programmes and community projects across the borough. Their aim is straightforward: to make sure that talent and creativity aren’t limited by someone’s background or ability to pay.
Behind all this is Alan’s journey, one shaped by loss, resilience and the life-changing power of music.
This is Alan’s story, in his own words…
“On a rainy Sunday afternoon, sitting with my grandmother Beattie, I watched A Song to Remember, the film about Chopin. That was the moment I fell in love with piano music. We didn’t have much money, so lessons weren’t an option. I learned by watching and listening, picking up what I could from a cousin who did have lessons. I begged my parents for a piano and, eventually, they gave in. It was a big old upright with candle holders and cracked, yellowing keys, but to me, it was perfect.
“As a teenager, other things took over: beer, girls, and the expectation that I should find a sensible career. At sixteen, I drifted away from music. I went to university to study law, passed my exams, and realised I hated it.
“Years later, everything changed. Within six months, both my parents died. At the same time, my wife Winifred was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In the middle of all that, at the age of 48, I went back to university to study music. It wasn’t about ambition. It was about survival.
“Winifred died four years later, just before I graduated. Without the piano, I’m not sure how I would have coped. Music did what words and good intentions couldn’t, it gave me somewhere to put the grief, the anger, and the love.
“Since then, I’ve tried to make sure that children growing up with limited means, as I did, get the chance to experience music. Ability is everywhere. Opportunity isn’t.
“If there’s a point to my story, it’s simple: the arts aren’t extras. They can be a lifeline.
“And sometimes a life changes because of something as ordinary as a rainy afternoon, a film, and a grandmother who let you sit close and listen.”
When you meet Alan it’s like meeting, how can I describe Alan? A very flamboyant Father Christmas. A white beard, incredibly jolly, and very theatrical, with a heart of gold. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him on many occasions, one very special one where he played the piano for 24 hours straight, to raise money for charity dressed as, you’ve guessed it, Father Christmas.
Alan grew up in Springfield, the car park of the old Springfield Park was his playground and he really is yet another example of a wonderful Wiganer making a change.
Pianos, Pies and Pirouettes matters. It’s not just teaching steps, chords or routines, it’s creating safe spaces, building confidence and giving people something steady to hold onto when life feels anything but.
To find out more, click here.
If you’ve got a story to tell, I’d love to hear from you, so please, drop me an email. What I need is:
Who you are.
Where you are.
What you do.
Why you do it.
When it started/when you do it.
Let’s fill the internet with how magical Wigan is.
Thank you, Claire x
