The third and final episode of a mini series of audio stories I've been creating as part of a Develop Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant from Arts Council England is about the health and wellbeing benefits of singing.

I spent time with 3 different community singing groups, capturing their singing sessions and interviewing participants about how it makes them feel and what benefits it brings to their lives.

Monday Music was set up by Grenville Hancox to promote the benefits of singing for general well-being. Its 65 or so members are mainly residents of Folkestone and its surrounding areas who meet once a week, during term time, to sing together. Grenville describes the sessions as a physical, mental and spiritual workout!

Canterbury Skylarks is the founding Sing to Beat Parkinson's group and part of the Canterbury Cantata Trust which supports a network of singing groups for people with Parkinson’s and other neurological conditions. The programme’s origins are rooted in the work of the Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health (SDH centre) and since 2018, more than three hundred practitioners have participated in Sing to Beat Parkinson’s training programmes.

Singing Mamas is a grassroots movement of women committed to improving wellbeing through singing. It was set up by nurse Kate Valentine to help manage stress, find connection and joy. There are Singing Mamas groups all over the country supporting women through pregnancy and motherhood, and with symptoms of postnatal depression.

This story isn't about new scientific evidence, it re-confirms and celebrates how singing creates community, a sense of belonging and identity along with supporting mental health, other neurological conditions and a range of physical health conditions.

If you'd like to commission an audio story about your work, organisation or group. Please get in touch.

Links:

Monday Music

Sing to Beat Parkinson's

Canterbury Cantata Trust

Singing Mamas

Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health

Socials:

@singing_mamas_org

@singtobeatparkinsons

@kate_valentine_singing_mamas

@creativehealthstories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The second in a mini series of audio stories I've been creating as part of a Develop Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant from Arts Council England comes from The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge in Canterbury, Kent.

The Beaney describes itself as a 'pioneering therapeutic museum' which uses its unique building and collections to create a ‘tonic’ to enhance a visitor’s experience and improve their health and wellbeing. Its been at the forefront of wellbeing in museums for over a decade. I spent time capturing the sounds and stories from four of its wellbeing programme activities, tailored for a range of people with different needs including: blind and partially sighted people, people living with dementia and their carers, people struggling with loneliness and social isolation, older women and an artist working with science exhibiting in their Front Room gallery.

This story demonstrates how much public cultural spaces like museums and galleries can play a significant role in public health and are a lifeline for many people. Technically this story was challenging as sound echoes in big gallery spaces with hard floors and big glass cases, but it captures the great work The Beaney staff, volunteers and creative practitioners do.

Links

The Beaney

Museums on Prescription

Wendy Daws

Moving Memory Dance Theatre Company

Mellissa Monsoon

Socials

@the_beaney

@creativehealthstories

@wendydawsart

@moving_memory

@mellissamonsoonartist

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guests in this episode are leading nature-based wellbeing opportunities for communities in South West England. They joined me for a fascinating conversation about how their services operate, some of the challenges they face and the wide-ranging impacts of being in green spaces.

Laura Tween is Director of Able Hands Together, a CIC based near Salisbury focussed on therapeutic farming for the benefit of the community and providing safe, accessible but life-changing long-term opportunities for adults who have learning disabilities, called “Co-Farmers”.

Roy Goddin is Founder of The Root Cause Project, a non-profit organisation supporting veterans and serving personnel in North Devon to rest, reflect, and enhance their wellbeing and mental health, using the restorative force of nature.

Marie-Claire Henon is Green Care Lead at Birdie’s Farm, Glastonbury’s Food & Regenerative Farming Centre which is a safe and impactful space for connection with others and educational opportunities to enhance the local area.

This episode has been commissioned as part of the Creative Health Associates Programme with the National Centre for Creative Health.

Links:

Able Hands Together

Root Cause Project

Bridies Farm

National Centre for Creative Health

National green social prescribing delivery capacity assessment: final report

Socials:

NCCH LinkedIn

Able Hands Together Instagram

Root Cause Instagram

Bridies Farm Instagram

@creativehealthstories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.