With a deep commitment to the community and youth music education, Jonathon has directed some of Australia's finest community choirs, also creating the Australian Pop Choir, Pop Kidz and the Sydney Street Choir prior to his return to his "hometown" of Melbourne where he has created the Choir of Hard Knocks. 

RecLink, a not-for-profit group providing recreational facilities for the Disadvantaged, supported Jonathon Welch in the venture, as did Jimmy Barnes who conceded that he had suffered from alcohol abuse earlier in his entertaining career.

Quotes from Jonathon Welch re Choir of Hard Knocks:

• "The formation of the Choir of Hard Knocks has given me the opportunity to use the musical gifts I have been blessed with and wonderful experiences I have had as a professional singer and conductor, to bring pleasure and a sense of belonging and Self-esteem to those who've joined this exciting new project"

• "As many of the participants come from marginalised and often financially difficult backgrounds, it is my hope that the joy and euphoria that music making in a group dynamic will give a sense of purpose, structure and respect to their lives and help them look forward to belonging to a 'family' - albeit a musical one!"
• "If we can perform under those circumstances, we can perform anywhere — trams, people, trucks, and having a cleaning cart going past behind me — but it was fantastic. We talked about how important it is to smile and keep going.

• "Unless there's something physically wrong with your hearing or your throat, everybody can sing in some form or another. When they're all together and in the moment, that's when they can forget about everything else. I keep telling them that singing's always been my best friend — it's never let me down, it's never argued with me, it's never told me I couldn't do something."

The ABC1 production, Choir of Hard Knocks, enables viewers to see the other side of those who are Disadvantaged and discover the powerful and moving stories of those who will be given a voice, in more ways than one.  "To be recognised, appreciated and applauded for what we do in life has to be the essence of any human being's sense of self respect and self worth."

The timing might not have been perfect, the soloist was a little shaky, and a wild-haired man at the back had a tendency to echo the last word of every line, but the infectious enthusiasm of the group belting out Blame it on the Boogie — in unison, with all the actions — was hard to ignore.

Choir of Hard Knocks held a Christmas concert Vodophone Arena Melbourne on Saturday, 1 Dec 2007.

RecLink's Peter Cullen said the choir gave homeless people a purpose. "People's Self-esteem can be shot to pieces. But they can make a cultural contribution and that's the hidden therapy in this."

The choir continues to meet in effectively a "LCCBSG for musical recreation activity" on Wednesday afternoons.

The Business Plan Developer welcomes the 'Producer' of ABC's 5 x 30 min episodes of Choir of Hard Knocks to opine on producing Hilly Rides Challenge and its ability to motivate tens of thousands of Interested Adults to draw on their Youthful Exuberance to Improve Their Personal Health & Fitness as a precursor to Materially Altered Lifestyle leading a Local Community Healthy Lifestyle which leaves a small Personal Carbon Footprint.