Brief description of projects

Harp Sprint

We developed a visual, dance and singing project called ‘Family Arts Roundabout’: a dance professional, visual arts practitioner and a professional choir leader deliver a bespoke, enjoyable creative project to families who were not able to see each other physically during lockdown / social distancing.

We had spaces for 3 families to take part in a series of 5 online workshops over a 4 week period, in painting, singing and dance. We worked with 2 families in the end; one was a geographically dispersed family where the eldest relative was a resident in a care home, the other was centred around a 16 year old who had recently received a bone marrow transplant and was shielding. The aim with each family was to produce something together, a video or a piece of artwork, all done remotely, to help them connect and communicate with their families by doing something fun and creative together.  All activities were tailored and adapted to suit the needs and interests of each family, so they didn’t need to have any previous experience or interest in singing, dance or art to take part. 

Music in Hospitals 

Swansea Bay University Health Board (SBUHB) has been piloting participatory music sessions via zoom since July 2020 with fantastic results. Staff and patients find that the sessions ‘bring the wards together’, ‘create an uplifting environment’, and generally help to ‘improve patient, and staff wellbeing’.

We plan to develop a music in health service across the health board to help to formalise and unify the delivery of ‘music for health’ sessions across the whole of SBUHB for staff and patients.

• Delivery will take place online and in person, and will be a mixture of performance, and participatory.
• The project will happen in 3 phases. Each phase will have specific research and evaluation questions.
• Research will be carried out in partnership with Cardiff University, who have a proven track record in measuring the impact on Arts in Health activities.
• The Project will last 12 months.

Choirs For Good

Born in the midst of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic, Choirs For Good was set up by a group of like-minded choir leaders who wanted to use the power of choirs and group singing to connect and empower people and communities.

Singing together is about much more than singing itself. Choirs are communities of people from all backgrounds, with all the richness and life-experience that combining large groups of people together can bring. Communities are a powerful force for change, and we believe that by placing choirs at the heart of local communities it has the potential to do good for society.

We know that these two factors – positively impacting physical and mental health & wellbeing, and effecting positive change in local communities – can be transformative. We want to support people in feeling good about themselves, whether that’s finding their voice or giving back to society. We see a future where group singing is accessible to everyone, for the whole of their life. This vision is summed up in our tagline:

FEEL GOOD, DO GOOD, FOR GOOD

Our vision is to create a world where choirs are at the heart of local communities. Where they give back to society and are part of a sustainable, integrated approach to helping people live more connected, fulfilling lives.

Since launching in September 2021, Choirs For Good have launched 12 successful vibrant choirs throughout Wales.

Overview of social prescribing-related activity

In all my work, I am establishing projects in a way to allow them to become part of a bigger social prescribing network. I therefore do believe that the activities I’m running could be social prescribing activities but are not wholly part of a successful social prescribing network as of yet. Currently we are trialing a choir which is a partnership between Swansea University Health board, Swansea Wellbeing Centre, and Choirs For Good – this choir is open to all, and all members are subject to the monthly subscription that is paid to Choirs For Good on a monthly basis (£16.99). However, if clients have been referred into the choir by the wellbeing Centre they are able to join on a bursary plan, which sees their membership paid for (currently up to 3 months) by the health board. This is an ongoing trial/experiment, and we are constantly tweaking things in order to improve the service.

We’ve had fantastic feedback from the participants, the health board, and the wellbeing Centre. The choir is growing in size, and in confidence, and we believe it’s making a difference to those individuals who need the support. Our choir leader is pivotal to providing a nurturing, safe environment where people feel supported.

There have been some initial concerns about how we fund places for those who cant afford the monthly subscription beyond the bursary plan scheme. We are currently in talks with the health board as to whether this can be extended, and possible further, external funding beyond that.

Initial thoughts on the project are that whilst all parties are keen from the outset, the reality of coordinating three separate organizations is quite difficult. It’s also underpinned by the fact that at some point there has to be someone funding the places. After all, social prescribing is only really ‘prescribing’ when there is a value applied to a service, otherwise it’s just recommending.

Currently the funding is coming via the health board from the Arts Council. This funding is fantastic, however it’s unreliable, and will only ever be short term unless we can convince the health board that funding social prescribing activity, and any arts intervention for that matter, is worth it. I believe that this should be the focus of any arts for wellbeing research going forward. We need to prove that the health board will actually save money (either in the short term, or the long-term).

Why do older people take part in your activities?

The choir leader is vital to creating warm, inclusive environments for everyone to enjoy, and that includes supporting people to be themselves. There’s a massive focus on providing a fun, fulfilling, and supporting environment. Those three words form the pillars of how we build each and every interaction with the choirs. People just want to have fun, feel like they’ve accomplished something, and do it all in a safe environment where they can express themselves. This is what makes our choirs unique, it’s to do with our wholistic view of each and every session, and interaction with the choristers.

We also know that it makes people feel good when they do good, which is why there is a large focus on fundraising and supporting charities, community events etc. It’s all part of the Fun, fulfilment, and supportive environment that we are aiming for.

What were the outcomes on participants?

Whilst some participants decide that our choirs are not for them, the vast majority give excellent feedback on the sessions. They note how it positively affects their wellbeing, how they feel inspired, and how the environment they’re in is relaxing and supportive. Participants note how the choirs become a family, and effectively a self-sustaining support group, where they can rely on each other for regular support. We collect regular feedback on our sessions, and that can be viewed on request.

What do you do to meet older participants’ engagement needs?

Each choir has one regular choir leader, this is important to create meaningful bonds, to establish relationships with the community that choir is based, and a point of contact for the organization. It’s the choir leaders job to choose appropriate repertoire from our own catalogue of arrangements, to source gigs and performance opportunities, and to support the choristers on an individual basis if required.

Currently, the nuts and bolts of the organization is being run by the 5 directors on a volunteer basis, this is temporary until we can fully sustain a business manager role.

We heavily rely on a state-of-the-art CRM system which we use to manage all of our sessions, chorister relations/communications, attendance records, and subscription management. This is pivotal to allow the directors time to focus on strategy, growth and new initiatives.

Between the 5 directors, we manage:

Up-keep of the website/CRM, finances/pay roll, new musical arrangements, recording rehearsal tracks, merchandise, PR/Social media, etc.

What is important to you in terms of values?

Our values are what drives us, sets our standards, and are what holds us to account. By setting up as a social business, we hope that this model will encourage us and guide us to ensure that we are morally, ethically, and financially responsible in all our activities and relationships. Our vision is to create a world where choirs are at the heart of local communities. Where they give back to society and are part of a sustainable, integrated approach to helping people live more connected, fulfilling lives.

Our Values:

Integrity, Positivity, Inclusivity, Supportiveness, Inspiration

This underpins everything that we do. We move forward with purpose, but with great thought behind as to the ethics and purpose of the task in hand.

What takes a lot of time but is really important?

• Creating, editing and managing the website/CRM – this takes a lot of initial set up, but once it’s set up, removes a huge amount of clerical and admin work.
• Arranging and recording new songs, creating lyric sheets etc.
• Continuous re-evaluation and thought of our processes, our direction and progress.
• Policies and procedures
• Organizing gigs and opportunities for the choirs