Projects
Songbirds Music UK is dedicated to enabling children and young people to access high quality music making in hospital spaces, so young people to feel empowered and build resilience through music making.
Committed to building a workforce for the future, Songbirds Music UK train and mentor musicians in the skills of hospital musicianship and reflective practice, to enable them to be part of the Songbirds team delivering music activities on the wards at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, and online with families of young people with complex communication needs.
Annually they reach over 400 students across sectors of medical, nursing and music education, delivering bespoke training to students to build their knowledge and understanding of the benefits of music making in hospital settings.
Alongside this training strand, Songbirds Music UK delivers a portfolio of programmes across hospital, education, and community settings. These include long-term embedded hospital work such as Sound Environments at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, as well as Youth Music-funded projects including Taking Wing and Hospital of Music.
We also deliver regular shared-space and atrium-based sessions through Songbirds Collective, alongside training-linked performance and engagement opportunities. In addition, we provide remote sensory music sessions for young people with complex communication and sensory needs, extending access to music-making beyond the hospital environment.
Across all programmes, our work is rooted in responsive, relational practice, shaped by the needs of individuals, families, and clinical contexts, and focused on creating meaningful access to live music in healthcare settings.
HOSPITAL OF MUSIC
Hospital of Music is a three-year project developing music making opportunities for children and young people at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. Funded by Youth Music and delivered in partnership with MFT Youth and Therapeutic Play Services.
At its heart, the project celebrates collaboration, imagination, and growth — offering young people at RMCH the chance to develop their musical voices and build confidence through shared music-making.
SONGBIRDS FLEDGLINGS
In partnership with the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Songbirds Music UK delivers an annual professional development programme that supports musicians in bringing their creative practice into healthcare settings. Launched in 2023, the programme offers tailored training, mentorship, and hands-on experience working alongside Songbirds musicians, health play specialists, and children and families across Manchester Foundation Trust hospitals.
WINGBEATS
As part of our Youth Music-funded programmes, Songbirds Music UK hosts Wingbeats events to mark key milestones in our work, bringing together young people, healthcare professionals, musicians, students, researchers, and partners to share learning, celebrate achievements, and shape future developments.
These events create a space for reflection and exchange, highlighting the role of music in improving healthcare experiences and supporting wellbeing.
SOUND ENVIRONMENTS
Sound Environments is an ongoing music project in the Paediatric Critical Care (PCC) unit at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. Led by senior music for health specialist musicians; Dr Rosalind Hawley and Mark Fisher in partnership with Eleanor Aston, PCC Ward Manager and linked to Therapeutic and Specialised Play Services, our team of musicians deliver weekly live music sessions to both clinical spaces, a programme of staff training and awareness sessions, and create online resources for families and staff. A key element of the project is the use of live music to alter auditory experience of the existing acoustic environment, with the aim to relieve stress and anxiety and provide a more therapeutic and responsive acoustic for children, families and staff.
QEPEP Medical Student Training
Songbirds Music UK has been welcoming medical students onto QEPEP (Quality Enhancement of Placement Experience Programme) placements with the University of Manchester Medical School since the first pilot programmes in 2014. Led by founders Dr Ros Hawley and Mark Fisher alongside the wider Songbirds practitioner team, these placements invite future doctors into the musical life of Royal Manchester Children's Hospital — from bedside music-making to lively atrium sessions filled with improvisation, interaction, and shared creativity.
RNCM Professional Placement
Songbirds Music UK is delighted to partner with the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) to deliver the Music and Health strand of the Year 3 Professional Placement module.
For many students, this is their first opportunity to experience music-making beyond traditional performance settings — discovering how music can become a way of connecting, communicating and supporting wellbeing.
