“Direct From The Source” – Music Leading in a Domestic Abuse Refuge for women and children in Plymouth
Some useful and honest feedback from Lynda Green, Children and Young People’s Worker, Sanctuary Supported Living in partnership with Plymouth Music Zone. Lynda also offers some thoughts on general tips to help achieve a positive working relationship and outcomes when working in this type of setting.
Positive impacts…
“When I think of positive impacts of the project, one example is that someone in our Refuge who is not engaging with any other part of the service will come along with her 2-year-old child and engage with the Music sessions. This shows that the project provides something different that some people respond particularly well to.
In group sessions, the children relax and have fun together. The mums often join in.
Our holiday workshops have been particularly successful in bringing together mums and children within the wider service, to include our safe-houses.
Instrument-making sessions have given participants a sense of achievement and thus raise self-esteem. For older children, it’s given them the opportunity to explore and be creative. For mums with very young children, it’s promoted bonding and attachment at a stressful time.
Our reflections with the Music Leader during and after sessions have given us an alternative insight into parent / child relationships.”
Challenges…
“Some of the difficulties we encounter when offering the Music sessions, are that by the nature of the setting, things can often be very chaotic and last-minute things happen that we need to react quickly to. This can be frustrating if we’ve been hoping to do something or planned a specific activity.
Disruption occurs frequently because the mums are often in a place where they are not yet ready to put the needs of their children first.
Partnership working…
"We have a good working relationship with our PMZ Music Leader and we can be honest and open about how things are going. Flexibility from both sides of the partnership makes it work well.
We are currently in the process of working with the University of Plymouth on an independent evaluation of the work and its impact on our setting and its users. Although this evaluation has been commissioned by PMZ, it will also be very useful to us.”
To work successfully elsewhere on a similar project? Some thoughts from Lynda Green on some key ingredients that Music Leaders need to consider to achieve positive outcomes…
- Understand the client group and the challenges this presents.
- Have a flexible approach.
- Be willing to work with a wide age-range of children and young people, as well as sometimes engaging parents in sessions.
- Build good working relationships with the service provider / team – the sessions can also have a really uplifting effect on them too!
- Don’t be inhibited in front of others – demonstrate that you are able to have fun. Give permission for fun, creativity and musical exploration.
- Be aware of the sensitive nature of the service you’re attending and ensure that you are aware of and adhering to the safeguarding policies and procedures that are in place.
- Know your role as a Music Leader and be mindful of your limitations.