In 2014, the Arts Council England awarded a £15,000 grant to the ‘Moving InWards’ project which saw Leicester band ‘refuge’ demonstrate the therapeutic effects of live music by making
it part of life on the wards. Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust teamed up with ‘refuge’ to spearhead a series of music workshops and performances for staff and patients on its 10 adult mental health units.

The sessions, instruments and choice of music are all agreed with patients’ needs in mind, and the audience members are free to drop in and out of the sessions.  Most of the workshops consist of some time spent teaching some simple chords, of a well known song, on the ukulele to all participants and then playing in a group towards the end.  As ‘refuge’ also write their own music, some of the time was then spent performing the tracks created for the project album.

The feedback from these sessions was astoundingly positive and nearly 100% of those who attended wanted more of the same!

“The sessions have been thoroughly enjoyable and of great benefit to both patients and staff. The therapeutic benefits have added to the inpatient experience for our service users.”

Mark Grigg – Acting Service Manager for Inpatient Care at the Bradgate Unit

Mark Morriss, of ‘The Bluetones – plus a host of specialist arts in health practitioners mentored ‘refuge’ band members: Pete Hirst, Phil Seaman and Sam Munton. They also worked with Mark
Morriss and Gaz Birtles of The South (formerly The Beautiful South) to write and produce a single and EP from the project over its 12 month span.

The ultimate aim of this project to make live music an everyday feature on mental health wards.

Visit the website: www.movinginwards.co.uk to learn more.