According to a new survey published this week by UK Music and taken by pollsters Public First, music has played an integral role in reducing the stresses of the majority of UK citizens over lockdown.
It was the largest poll performed since the music industry’s initial closure back in March 2020, and was orchestrated to find out what role music played in the lives of the British public during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The key findings of the wide-ranging poll revealed:
57% of adults said music had helped them cope with lockdown
Around one million adults say they have taken up an instrument during lockdown
71% think music makes them more productive at work/studying (From a personal perspective music & shows on BBC Sounds have kept me focussed at work & WFH. It helps my anxiety issues so much – in a good way!)
The Importance of Live Music & Venues To The Nation:
Despite Covid-19, 43% of the public are interested in going to a live concert, gig or festival this year
Two-thirds (66%) said they planned to attend as many or even more gigs than before Covid-19 hit
Among 18-24 year-olds, 38% say going to a music festival or gig is one of the things they are most looking forward to
Almost half the public (45%) are worried about the financial viability of their local music venues due to the impact of Covid-19
Slade’s Don Powell has gathers up around 20 of his drumming mates for a new charity song to raise funds for out of work musicians and crew sidelined by the pandemic.
Slade II member Craig Fenney ran the original idea beside Don who recruited his mate, ELO’s Bev Bevan, and then watched more than a dozen other drummers come to the party.
Guest Drummers Brian Bennett: The Shadows Bev Bevan: Quill, ex Move, ex ELO, ex Black Sabbath Andy Edwards: Robert Plant, IQ, Frost, Rob Brian: Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds, Siouxsie Sioux Jamie Little: Jason Donovan, Beverley Knight, Steve Vai Karl Brazil: Robbie Williams, James Blunt Tom Meadows: Kylie Minogue, Girls Aloud, Jamie Morrison: The Stereophonics Craig Bacon: Gloria Gaynor, Nimmo Brothers Mickey Barker: Second Vision, Magnum, Bernie Marsden and KoM Derrick McKenzie: Jamiroquai Matt Cowley: Emily Capell, Bernie Marsden Lee Agnew: Nazareth Craig Blundell: Steve Wilson, Steve Hackett ’Sticky’ Wicket: Chris Barber, Jools Holland Richard Rayner: Multiple award winning percussion and drum performer Rebekah Rayner: Session drummer Toby Wilson: Session drummer Mark DeCloedt: EMF
As national lockdown restrictions are starting to be relaxed, we’re assessing what this means for our charity and our mission to provide music therapy, train the music therapists of tomorrow and carry out research within music therapy.
Over the last few months, we’ve been developing online and virtual approaches to music therapy so we could continue to support people through music. This will be continuing until at least September as it is still not safe enough to provide face to face music therapy sessions at our centres around the UK. However, we are slowly starting to return to working in organisations like care homes, mental health units, and schools. We hope this will continue to increase in the coming months.
Our education provision has finished for the summer but when the new academic year begins in September our aim is to be able to restart our Master of Music Therapy and PHD programmes with some face to face tuition alongside the online teaching we’ve put in place. We continue to pause our music therapy research work while our focus is on getting our music therapy provision and education back up and running.
We’ll continue to monitor the situation and respond to what people need from us at this moment in time so we can make the most positive impact with music possible. “The Mountbatten choir has helped me so much”– Sue’s Story
The Mountbatten Hospice community choir is run by Nordoff Robbins music therapist, Fraser Simpson. It is made up of around 80 people who used to meet every Wednesday in the hospice’s day centre, but it has now moved online since lockdown. Sue joined the choir in January 2017 not long after it was first started. She joined after her husband passed away, who had been cared for by the Mountbatten Hospice teams. Below we hear from Sue about how the choir has helped her and how it has adapted since lockdown.
“The Bereavement officer in Mountbatten Hospice mentioned to me that the Mountbatten choir was open to everyone, should I like to join.
The choir has helped me so much since my first attendance in January 2017 following my bereavement. I have attended nearly every Wednesday evening since then and it has become a very important part of my life.
Fraser, who runs the Mountbatten choir, has such a unique and special way of welcoming us, and despite the fact that the choir has grown enormously since it started, he always has time for each one of us in a very individual and caring way.
It is a wonderful thing to be able to look forward to each week. To know that there is no pressure and that I will be with people who have been through or experienced similar situations to myself, with who there is an immediate bond. I have made many friends, which has been invaluable in building my new way of life alone.
When ‘lockdown’ occurred, Fraser and Mountbatten were able to assist the choir members who wanted to carry on attending the choir and continue to sing online through ‘Zoom’.
This has been an exciting new challenge and I am so pleased that I have been able to achieve this, using new skills acquired and being able to continue to enjoy singing at this particularly difficult time of lockdown and the feeling of isolation.
It has assisted me in so many ways and I am absolutely sure it has helped my health and well-being enormously over the past three years – all due to Fraser and Mountbatten, to whom I remain indebted.” Watch the Mountbatter Choir perform before lockdown through Joy’s storyMusical Conversations We’ve always wanted to help people access the benefits of music, especially during these challenging times.
This is why we’re introducing Musical Conversations from our music services team. They give you the opportunity to talk about music with one of our music therapists – who are all musicians and understand the importance of music in everyday life.
We hope it will be an opportunity to share musical interests and to think together about how music can help in coping with the demands of everyday life.
Unlike counselling or psychotherapy, the conversations won’t address specific personal problems or delve into a person’s psyche. Rather we hope it will enable people to focus on the potential benefits of music, listening to music and making music in the contexts of their own lives.
If you think that you or someone you know would benefit from having a conversation about music on the phone with one of our therapists, complete the registration form using the button below and someone will be in touch soon. Register your interestNew Singalong Videos To Help You Stay Connected We’ve got three brand new Singalong videos for you to join in with.
We know lockdown may be easing, but that doesn’t mean we should all stop using music to connect. With the aptly timed We’re Walking on Sunshine (depending where you are of course), Lean on Me, and Stand By Me, there are three classic songs to sing to and make music with our music therapists. Get involved and sing todayNordoff Robbins Music Quiz More than 465 perople came together in 93 teams from across the music industry to take part in the hotly contested inaugural Nordoff Robbins Online Music Quiz earlier this month. The event not only brought together people from across the music industry, got colleagues and friends in the same (virtual) room and tested some serious music knowledge, but it also raised £6,000 for Nordoff Robbins, helping us to carry on providing music therapy and to safeguard the future of our charity.
A big thanks to our partners at Bose, Bulldog and Sporcle for helping us make it happen. After four very close heats and one tense final, a big well done to our winning team from IMG Golf.
After such success, we’ll be looking at rolling out more quizzes later in the year so watch this space. Virgin Money Online Choir After moving our inclusive community choir online and seeing how it can help with mental health and well-being during the lockdown, we wanted to offer its therapeutic benefits to organisations. We knew it had the possibility of bringing colleagues together and helping mental health and well-being in the workplace.
Virgin Money took us up on our offer and we’ve been working with them for several weeks now to set up and run their first workplace choir for over 50 of their employees.
“I’ve never had any experience of singing with other people, so I was quite nervous. But Emily you were great. I really enjoyed it.”
If your organisation could benefit from a workplace choir get in touch by replying to this email. If you’d prefer to join our inclusive community online choir sign up button below. It runs every Tuesday from 4pm and is suitable for people of all ages and abilities. Sign up to the choir todaySupergrass perform for Nordoff Robbins and CALM on Friday 21 August Goose Island are giving you the chance to witness the legendary live show of Supergrasswith the band performing at Manchester’s Band On The Wall, playing the festival headline set they wanted to perform for thousands of fans this summer.
Creators of some of the most defining tracks of the last twenty years, Supergrass boast a massive repertoire of hits including ‘Alright,’ ‘Moving’ and ‘Pumping On Your Stereo.’
Click the link below and get your ticket for just £2. All proceeds go to Nordoff Robbins and CALM. Buy a ticket or find out moreMonkey Music Aiming To Raise £20,000 For Nordoff Robbins Monkey Music offer music classes for babies and young children and have supported Nordoff Robbins for many years now. This summer, they’re aiming to raise £20,000 for Nordoff Robbins from their sing and play challenge.
Here’s what they had to say: “We are a large team of Monkey Music families from all over the UK who will sing and play songs during August and September to raise awareness of the importance of singing and playing music in our daily lives for our well-being and mental health. We want to raise awareness about the vital work Nordoff-Robbins music therapists do to enrich the lives of the people they work with.” A Big Thank You To The Worm Club A huge congratulations and thank you to our music industry friends from the likes of Warner, Virgin, SYCO and BMG who dusted off their cycling gear to raise £10,000 for Nordoff Robbins. Members of the ‘The Worm Club’ cycled a total of 300 miles on Friday 24 July to raise as much as possible to support our music therapy work.
Worm Club’s Jeremy Marsh of Warner Music said: “We chose to support Nordoff Robbins, as three of the group have been closely involved in the music business and we’re all touched by the dilemma facing the charity, due to the loss of fundraising events during the Covid crisis” As usual, please let us know if you have any feedback. You can do this by responding to this email.
I want to take this opportunity to update you about what has been happening at our music therapy charity, Nordoff Robbins.
Like many other charities, we are being severely impacted by the current Coronavirus outbreak and national lockdown. Given the vulnerable people we work with we have had to temporarily stop all our face-to-face music therapy provision to protect their health and that of our staff. But we know for many of those we support we are a vital lifeline for social connection, mental health and well-being. So we are exploring ways we can provide some form of music therapy remotely online as quickly and safely as possible.
More than ever we are seeing that making music matters; it can unite people and lift spirits in a way few other activities can, helping people connect with themselves. And so we are doing everything we can to respond to the growing need in our communities for ways to help people cope with social isolation and maintain their mental well-being. As well as trying to move our therapy online where appropriate, we’re also developing virtual online choirs and creating digital resources for people to make music together at home, including an exciting collaboration with the children’s TV show, Clangers. You can learn more about these resources below.
However, the rapid shutdown of society has caused massive financial pressure on charities like ours. The situation has forced the cancellation of most of our fundraising activities for the next few months at least, which means we have no income coming in at the moment.
We have joined the rest of the charity sector under the banner #NeverMoreNeeded to campaign for more financial support from the Government to help charities survive this crisis. Anything you can do to add our voice to this will help.
I understand how everyone is juggling so much at the moment, so I’d like to thank you for your continuing support during these times. Keep safe, keep making music and keep connecting.
Kind regards, Sandra Schembri CEO Ways Nordoff Robbins can help you during this timeOn stage at home with The Clangers – We’re excited to announce the launch of our collaboration with children’s TV show, Clangers, called On Stage at Home. We’ve created songs with our music therapists and Clangers to get young children to connect through making music – using homemade instruments, movement, body percussion and voice. Suitable for all abilities, watch the first two videos today.Find out more
Singalongs – Last week we launched Singalong with a bit of rock n roll. This week, we’ve got some exciting Queen for you to give a go. Great for all ages and music lovers, these are songs you can sing to and make music with our music therapists. Find out more Online choir – Our online choir is running every Tuesday at 4pm. Everyone is welcome to join in and find support in music, regardless of experience or ability. If you’d like to get involved or know someone who would, sign up today here.Find out more Other ways you can support Nordoff RobbinsGivergy Prize Draw – We’re hosting an exciting prize draw over the next few weeks. From just £5 a ticket you could win prizes from a signed Johnny Marr pedal, an Arsenal shirt signed by the team and a bundle of Marshall equipment.
Not only will you have the chance to win some great prizes, but by entering, you’ll also help to raise vital funds for us. Every ticket sold from this prize draw will help us safeguard the future of our charity, and crucially, allow us to be there for people who need us most. Enter prize draw United We Stream – People around the world can enjoy Greater Manchester’s art and culture through a new website streaming live music and performances every night, with 8% of funds raised coming to us. Live every night from 7pm, it’s free to access (but with donations welcome). Help spread the world and tell all your friends and family. Find out more Graeme Park lunchtime clubbin’ – Every Friday from noon to 2pm renowned international DJ Graeme Park is streaming live, playing Hacienda Classics and raising money for Nordoff Robbins. His first two sessions have raised over £1000! Tune in every Friday using the button below. Tune in to Lunchtime Clubbin As usual, please let us know if you have any feedback. You can do this by responding to this email.
Stay safe and speak again soon, The Nordoff Robbins team
We need to save our venues. And we need to do it now.
London, Monday 27th April – Music Venue Trust has announced #saveourvenues, a new national campaign to save hundreds of grassroots music venues at imminent risk of being closed down – permanently.
Without these independent venues the live music scene in the UK will die. These grassroots venues play a crucial role in the development of British music, nurturing local talent, providing a platform for artists to build their careers and develop their music and their performance skills. These venues also play a vital role in the cultural and economic vibrancy of any village, town or city.
Currently 556 venues are at risk including The Sugarmill in Stoke-on-Trent. “We’re extremely proud to be a grassroots music venue. These spaces are pipelines for talent and absolute lifelines for the communities they serve and the talents therein. We cannot allow them to be consigned to the past. UK music culture as we know it will simply not exist without these spaces, so it is vital to protect them” said Danni Brownsill, the venue’s chief booker and promoter.
Artists will be performing ‘at home’ gigs in support of their local venues, chosen from a list of venues currently in crisis which can be found at the campaign website www.saveourvenues.co.uk. Each venue will have their own fundraising page with a clear target of the funds it needs to raise to stay afloat throughout this difficult period. Once a target is reached any excess revenue will go to the central #saveourvenues fund to help the wider grassroots music venue community.
How can music fans get involved?
1. Donate to a specific venue’s fundraising page by clicking this link www.saveourvenues.co.uk to see a list of local venues that urgently need help.
2. Watch ‘at home’ shows by artists supporting the #saveourvenues campaign. Click here www.saveourvenues.co.uk to see a list of shows coming up.
4. Help spread the word on social media using the hashtag #saveourvenues and the campaign link www.saveourvenues.co.uk.
One of the main drivers of this initiative is the musician Frank Turner whose recent series of ‘Independent Venue Love’ shows for local venues Nambucca (London), The Joiners (Southampton) the Railway Inn (Winchester) and The Forum (Tunbridge Wells) raised thousands of pounds and provided a major inspiration for this campaign.
Frank Turner said, “The UK live music industry is staring into the abyss right now. I’m not able to save the whole thing on my own, but I decided to do a series of livestream shows to raise money for specific independent venues that I know and love, and that are in serious risk of disappearing right now. The success of these shows demonstrated the love that exists between music fans and their favourite grassroots music venues so the #saveourvenues campaign is a brilliant way of building on that and hopefully giving artists and music fans a chance to get involved and play a big part in helping them survive.”
One venue saved from closure by Frank’s fundraising gigs is Tunbridge Wells Forum. Co-founder Jason Dormon said “Frank Turner has always championed the grassroots sector, having grown up and learnt his craft in these venues. His generosity and commitment is truly admirable, he inspires live music fans to come together and unite in raising awareness and funds for the UK’s grassroots music venues. We were totally overwhelmed and heartened by Frank’s help and the support and generosity of the local community.”
Music Venue Trust’s CEO Mark Davyd said, “Without the support of music fans and artists literally hundreds of the UK’s grassroots music venues could go out of business, never to return, in the coming months. Please help to save every single grassroots music venue in the UK so that it can reopen after this crisis and continue to be a home to our musicians and our communities.”
Well – what a difference a week makes?! We really hope you’re receiving this email safe, well and staying positive in the face of this truly awful global crisis. It’s certainly been a bit of a roller-coaster for us, and we’re sure many of you can relate to that. We’ve had our wobbles in the last week – but we’ve taken the decision that positive mental attitude is the only way to approach a situation such as this.
You’ll have probably heard by now that we’ve postponed all of our concerts between now and the end of June. We’re in the thick of rescheduling all of those and we should be able to announce details of that very soon. If you currently have a ticket for one of those postponed concerts, your ticket will remain valid for the new date. If you can’t make it, you can just approach whoever you bought it from and a full refund will be issued.
So that’s the slightly depressing bit of this email!
But look – we’ve never been ones for wallowing in self-pity and we’re not even going to let something like COVID-19 get between us and bringing music to all of you!
Big thanks to BISCUITHEAD & THE BISCUIT BADGERS who donated £30 to the Nordoff Robbins charity after a whip round at their show at last weekend’s Steam Punk weekend in Whitby. This year’s total for Fifty Gigs In A Day now stands at £92.80
Total raised over the past three years via Fifty Gigs In A Day now stands at £654.41 🙂
Beans On Toast aka Jay McAllister is a folk musician who has released a new album every year on December 1st since 2009. This year’s album is entitled ‘The Inevitable Trainwreck’.
He appears at the Castle & Falconin Birmingham on February 8 2020.
The idea is to have a whole host of gigs/events mention via their social media posts the work of the Nordoff Robbins charity on and around the 8 February each year
The event not only brought together people from across the music industry, got colleagues and friends in the same (virtual) room and tested some serious music knowledge, but it also raised £6,000 for Nordoff Robbins, helping us to carry on providing music therapy and to safeguard the future of our charity.
