Our annual QEPEP modules with 5th-year medical students come to an end this month. It’s been another great year where we really see the benefits of students participating in our activities, broadening their knowledge and understanding of paediatrics, learning disabilities, and music-making for children, young people, and families affected by hospitalisation…

We’re constantly inspired by the brilliant students we get to work with—who never fail to surprise us with their creativity and generosity. Poppy, who studied with us last year, has been busy organising a fundraising concert in support of Songbirds. Thanks to her incredible efforts, she’ll be helping bring our Music Festival to life this August—a day filled with vibrant music, energy, and celebration at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital…

Welcome to our March newsletter - a busy time of year for us, with 5 training programmes underway. We were delighted to welcome Zoe Kilb from Youth Music to visit our programme this month. It was great to have her with us for the day, and for her to see a snapshot of the work we are doing at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital…

We’ve had a strong start to this year’s training projects, with activity taking place across conservatoire and university settings. Preparing musicians and healthcare professionals to work thoughtfully in hospital environments is a vital part of what we do, and it’s been wonderful to see this year’s cohorts begin their journeys…

We’ve had a busy start to the year — unbelievably, we are already at the end of Year 1 of our Youth Music Project. The year has flown by, and writing our interim report has helped remind us how much we have achieved, as well as showing how our organisation has developed…

As the year draws to a close we celebrate the impact and legacy of our work. 

Gloria, our Young Creator Project Support, has done an amazing job of taking on the newsletter since joining us. This month she's worked hard to pull together information and feedback from our projects, highlighting the reach and value of our work…

This month, we’ve dedicated focused time to reflection and evaluation with our wonderful musicians, who have been delivering ward and youth hub sessions over the past three months.
We held a development day with our Young Associates and facilitated two online debrief sessions with our musicians. Creating space for musicians to consolidate, reflect, refresh, and develop their skills is integral to our Youth Music project—and essential for both their wellbeing and professional growth…

This month we’re sharing stories from our new Youth Music funded project, Hospital of Music, which is supporting us to build an exciting new phase of patient led work at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (RMCH), learning from young people and shaping our future work with young people  co creatively and collaboratively.  We’re working in partnership with the brilliant, dedicated staff teams from The Manchester Foundation Trust Youth Service, and RMCH Therapeutic and Specialised Play Services and the fantastic young people connected to the  MFT Youth Service.  

It’s our final update today before we take a break until October. There’s been a lot happening both behind the scenes and musically in sessions, with our Young Associate Musicians continuing to develop their skills in working together, building their experience of working in the sensitive environment of Paediatric Critical Care, and our Fledgling musicians reflecting on their experiences with us now the academic year draws to a close. Scroll down to read more about these experiences, alongside an update on our new project, Hospital of Music. Wishing you all a great summer and thank you for your support this year!     

Hello and welcome to our June newsletter! We're really proud of our young team, who continue to grow and develop through the opportunities we are able to offer them. This month, read insights into their work with medical students, get the latest updates on our RNCM Fledglings activities, and find out more about the Songbirds approach and how it began. Over to Gloria and our musicians, scroll down to read more – happy reading!

Our work with future young music leaders continues to grow and this month we’re bringing you updates on our recent workshop with students at Chetham’s School of Music and our current Fledglings project. We’re also introducing Gloria Xia, who will be working with us as our Young Creator Project Support over the next 12 months…

We have lots of news for you this month. In March we said goodbye to our 3 – year Youth Music Project, Taking Wing, and this month we welcome our new Youth Music Project, Hospital of Music. We are busy building our team of musicians for this exciting new phase, attending meetings with play staff and youth teams, talking to parents of young people participating in our remote sessions and making plans for the year ahead. ..

Hello and welcome to the February edition of the Songbirds Music UK newsletter. This edition we are celebrating some programmes coming to an end, and looking forward to new beginnings over the next few months. Our musicians and the whole Songbirds team has achieved so much, and we can’t wait to tell you about everything that has been happening over the past month.

Hello, and welcome to May’s newsletter. My name is Juliet Goldbart. I am Professor of Developmental Disabilities at Manchester Metropolitan University. I am proud to be a Director of Songbirds Music UK, and to contribute in a very small way to this exciting organisation. The value of music in enhancing wellbeing is well-established. I have seen, in my own work…

Hello and a warm welcome to our April Newsletter. We are busy with our training sessions at the moment with the RNCM 3rd Year students finishing their course in early May. Most of them have been able to observe remote sessions in hospital and home settings – hopefully next year we will be able to take them into…

Hello everyone and welcome to our latest newsletter. It feels like spring has finally sprung with all the gorgeous daffodils and blossom making a very welcome appearance! We have been extremely busy this month at SMUK HQ finalising our Innovate UK Creative Industries pilot and gathering together all the lovely rich evaluative data…

Hello everyone and welcome to our latest newsletter, it seems only 5 minutes since we said hello last month! As ever we are continually inspired by the hospital staff who make our projects possible, and who have enabled music to be accessed by children and families throughout the pandemic. Our February newsletter celebrates…

We are really excited to share our news with you each month, and hope you will enjoy reading about our exciting projects. We start the year with much to celebrate, after winning one, and being shortlisted for two awards! We continue to work hard to support children and young people both inside and outside of hospital settings in the Northwest…