The future of Blackbird Leys Choir has been secured for at least another year.

The community choir, formed for a TV experiment 14 months ago, has joined forces with Oxford Philomusica to work towards a major concert later in the year.

The deal was agreed as the year-long Fivearts Cities project in Oxford - which created the choir for reality show The Singing Estate - draws to a close.

The aim of the Fivearts Cities project was to create a lasting legacy for classical music in Oxford.

The Blackbird Leys Choir started life as a group of 40 singers selected from the estate in January 2006.

It has since performed in front of millions of viewers in a four-part documentary on Channel Five, at the Royal Albert Hall in London and during a special reception with The Queen.

Oxford Philomusica, the city's only professional symphony orchestra, worked with the choir for a concert at the Sheldonian Theatre in February.

Now it will provide them with advice and practical support. Choral master Andrew Stewart will work with the choir free of charge and there will be free rehearsal space.

Oxford Philomusica's music director, Marios Papadopoulos, said: "It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with the choir with whom we have established a unique and close partnership over the last few months."

Channel Five's controller of arts, Kim Peat, said: "It has been an incredible journey for the choir over the past 14 months and to have the Oxford Philomusica continuing working with them is the icing on the cake."

Felicity Harvest, executive director of Arts Council England South East, said: "Fivearts Cities has demonstrated the joy participating in the arts can bring to people's lives, and we are thrilled that the Blackbird Leys Choir will continue."

The choir was back on TV last night in The Singing Estate: What Happened Next?