#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek - Mind the Music, one year in.

It’s been one year since Mind the Music, a three year programme funded by Youth Music which brings music to young people with mental health challenges, began. 

The programme aims to increase self-esteem, self-confidence and resilience for young people with wellbeing and mental health issues, whilst learning new musical skills. 

In the last year Community Music has delivered 160 one-to-one music sessions with young people accessing mental health services in East London, and has made weekly visits to the Coburn Centre for Adolescent Mental Health to deliver group music workshops across the two inpatient wards. 

These sessions are focussed on creative, expressive music making, responding to the young people’s musical preferences and desires, and including music production, vocals, songwriting, audio engineering and instrument playing. 

Community Music has also worked in partnership with Tower Hamlets Child and Adult Mental Health Services’ (CAMHS) Conduct team to design a programme called Regulate Music, which combines psycho-education and emotional and behavioural regulation techniques delivered by CAMHS professionals, embedded in music workshops delivered by Community Music tutors. 

Young people attend 8 week blocks, and as with the other projects within Mind the Music, we offer progression routes if they would like to continue on music making at Community Music after the course finishes.

Mind the Music has helped to upskill tutors, offering a range of training in mental health awareness which not only equips them to work in mental health settings, but also helps them respond to the growing wellbeing issues amongst students of other Community Music courses. 

One of the ways Community Music has supported students on our Foundation Degree in Creative Music Production and Business, is to invite people and organisations connected to the music industry come to give lunchtime talks centred around mental health an wellbeing. This has included Help Musicians UK, artist entrepreneur Shaodow, and artist manager and author of the report “Can Music Make You Sick?” Sally Gross.

Community Music is proud of Mind the Music’s first year, and is now looking forward to inviting more young people experiencing mental health issues into music making and supporting peer mentors to join the programme over the coming year.