On Tuesday 14th May, the Music in Mind team at Manchester Camerata were delighted to host another Inspiration Day to celebrate the programme’s achievements, share success stories and learn valuable new skills. We invited Music Champions from across Greater Manchester to the Monastery in Gorton to catch up on how they had been getting on in their sessions. It was a jam-packed day, filled with insightful conversations, lots of feedback and questions, but most importantly, plenty of fun!
During the morning session, music therapists, musicians and Music Champions had the opportunity to give their feedback in an evaluation session with Axel Kaehne, Director of Evaluation and Policy Analysis at Edge Hill University. Through an informative discussion, participants shared with the group their favourite moments, areas for improvement and their individual learning journeys.
Next, we listened to some wonderful presentations from Music Champions at four of our Music in Mind centres: Ancliffe Care Home, Brookfield House Care Home, Linden House Dementia Nursing Home and Rochdale Mind/Khubsuret House. The Music Champions here are amongst the most dedicated and passionate, sharing some heartfelt memories and stories from their experiences of delivering the programme.
Later on, two of our music therapists, Amina and Brigitte, delivered an exciting workshop on some of the new tracks they had been working on in the studio. These tracks are designed for Music Champions to play through a speaker during their sessions to help facilitate the structure and pace of the music-making. This time, we were treated to two new reggae tracks, with the aim of diversifying the music offer to cater for different cultural backgrounds. All tracks can be found on our Music in Mind website, plus lots of other useful resources, tutorials and tips. Simply log-in with your Music Champion username and password to access the site: https://champions.musicinmind.org/login
Finally, we ended the Inspiration Day with a celebration of our Music Champions. It was an honour to present each Champion with a certificate and badge to mark the completion of their Music in Mind training, but also to signify the start of their journey in delivering their own music sessions. We can’t wait to visit and see how they’re getting on!
These events continue to be incredibly memorable and inspiring, and as ever, the Music in Mind team are so grateful for the enthusiasm and support from our Music Champions, music therapist and musicians - without you, there would be no Music in Mind!
For those Music Champions who were unable to attend the lnspiration Day, the Camerata Music in Mind team visited some of the care homes to deliver the certificates in person.
Westwood Lodge
Our musicians, Amina and Graham, presented some well-deserved certificates to the Music Champions at Westwood Lodge, who are planning to continue their Music in Mind sessions across all three floors of the care home – wishing you all the best of luck!
Ancliffe Care Home
We popped into Ancliffe Care Home in Wigan to see how our wonderful Music Champions were getting on – it sounds like they have lots planned for their residents, including a brand-new playlist curated by the champions to use in their music sessions!
LLAMS Wigan Cricket Club
The Later Life and Memory Service (LLAMS) team delivering their Music in Mind sessions at the Wigan Cricket Club have been enjoying getting to know their group and are looking forward to seeing how their sessions develop!
Next Steps
The Music in Mind team are incredibly excited to continue this journey of improving the lives of people living with dementia, their carers and loved ones. In October this year, Manchester Camerata will implement its new programme across Greater Manchester as part of its recognition as a Centre of Excellence. Over the next three years, we plan to deliver a minimum of 40 Music Café’s (4 in each of the 10 boroughs), through our Music in Mind programme and the Alzheimer’s Society’s Singing for the Brain. We hope to have trained 300 Music Champions and reached 1000 people living with dementia. To read more about the announcement, visit our blog page here: https://www.musicinmind.org/blog/music-in-mind-a-centre-of-excellence
As for our current Music Champions, we will continue to support them to deliver their own music sessions, through online training, resources, new musical tracks and ongoing communication. Their journeys and experiences are integral to the development of the programme and their support for the new Music Champions will be invaluable. Here’s to the future and the next Inspiration Day!
