Annual Review 2015-16

Annual Review 2015-16 1

Introduction

soundLINCS’ Year

Welcome to soundLINCS’ annual review, an opportunity for us to share with you the achievements we feel most proud of and the aspects of our work that have made a particular impact. We are using it to ‘zoom’ into areas rather than to present you with a complete synopsis of every project we have run. Music is not one dimensional and neither is our work.

Last year we more than doubled our social media reach from 136,230 to 297,231 and we want to share that with you! There are lots of words underlined in this review - if you are reading the digital version we invite you to click the link and discover more about the projects, hear the music produced, gain an insight into our participants through films and see what is revealed in blogs written by people who are involved with soundLINCS. If you have the hard copy, I defy anyone not to want to get to a computer and find out more at www.soundlincs.org.

2015/16 has been a year of widening opportunities for soundLINCS and for the community to engage with us - from working directly with Children in Challenging Circumstances (CCC) to non-music sector workforce development, research, and development with older adults. soundLINCS was delighted to become a Youth Music key strategic organisation and one of 13 organisations nationally developing and delivering a Fund C music programme for the East Midlands. This programme has given us opportunities to continue our work with Music Education Hubs to create deeper strategic impact for CCC and their workforces, and we have also begun long-term research programmes with five academic establishments.

As we move into the Company’s 18th year, we are both delighted to lead a Board and an organisation which echoes and supports the vision of soundLINCS to encourage, enable and enhance more music-making opportunities for people across the East Midlands and beyond.

We hope you enjoy this snapshot of soundLINCS’ year.

Rob Williams, Chair and Nikki-Kate Heyes MBE, CEO

"Carry on doing what you're doing. We love the opportunity to explore different things each week and that there are always lots of new ideas and ways of involving everyone no matter what their capability."

“He’s a totally different child. He’s present, he’s engaged, even if just for minutes at a time. It means that we see his true character, we see something in him that just wasn’t there before.”

Making Noise Participants

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in Numbers

Over 900 Workshops Delivered

3,505 Number of Participants

11,422 Cumulative Participants

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Employment Opportunities Given

94 Performances Given

64 New Tracks Created

297,231 People Reached on Social Media

Children and Young People Making Noise continues to provide regular, integrated, out of school creative music sessions for children and young people (CYP) with special educational needs, disabilities and sensory impairment along with their siblings, parents and carers. The programme has run in Grantham, Sleaford, Skegness and Lincoln and is set to expand even further across the County in 2016, both geographically and digitally.

Making Noise was also featured in a report by BBC Look North.

FAB! 2016 saw over 500 CYP, their carers and families attend the 5th annual celebration of the Looked After Children’s Awards.

The exciting morning of activities and workshops was based around the theme of “Our FAB! World”, inviting participants to explore other cultures through creative and sporting experiences, with a live music unplugged stage proving incredibly popular for budding performers.

This was followed by an uplifting and inspiring awards ceremony honouring the hard work and dedication of CYP and their carers.

Music of Diversity took pupils from three Ministry of Defence primary schools and their surrounding communities in Rutland on an amazing journey. The project culminated in a rousing performance alongside the local Military Wives Choir.

soundLINCS has continued to expand its work with the Adoption Support Service throughout the year, working across a wide range of genres from music technology on iPads to hunter-gatherer instrument creation in Hill Holt Wood! CYP in East Lindsey also embraced a highly successful series of Indian drumming workshops during the summer holidays as part of a positive activities programme across the district.

June saw the culmination of EMPower for young music producers where all 13 participants did fantastically to receive and achieve Arts Awards. The project ended with a celebration evening at Lincoln Drill Hall, where the three groups came together and shared their tracks, photos and journeys. soundLINCS also delivered Download and soundBOOST workshops during the year, with energetic rock and pop workshops taking place at St Giles Youth Centre and some fantastic tracks created by participants from Sincil Sports College.

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soundLINCS FundC

During the last year we’ve been delivering and developing our exciting new Youth Music FundC programme. soundLINCS is one of only 13 national organisations selected to receive the funding.

FundC is a three year long project delivering music workshops, training, advocacy and academic research focusing on the ‘Inquiring Minds Process©’. The programme covers Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire with Children in Challenging Circumstances (CCC) across five diverse strands.

Inquiring Minds Process© INPUT - Develop relevant questions through discussion with lead partners SEEKING ANSWERS - through: a. wider discussions / information gathering within the relevant sector b. research based activities c. practical delivery of music development activities d. gather and analyse 360° feedback from all involved OUTPUT - Visible Published Legacy - we will deliver credible documentation of evidence-based practice.

 46 people from soundLINCS, Notts Youth Justice Service and Notts Music

Hub trained to deliver Arts Award and better understand different sectors’ challenges in developing a cohesive music offer for CCC in Nottinghamshire.  Music provision provided to 128 young people within the Youth Justice system

through group sessions and 1-2-1s, with some fantastic tracks created.  Research with Nottingham Trent University on the impact of music making

opportunities for CCC, allowing us to ask the bigger questions informing strategic development for these young people.

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Exciting opportunities working with Deaf and Hearing Impaired Early Years children, in nursery settings and with family groups.

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Research undertaken to develop a toolkit featuring activities which have had the most impact for hearing impaired children.

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Mapping exercise of schools and community groups in Leicester-shire, particularly focusing on those with known Deaf and Hearing impaired students.

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Over 130 children and young people engaged with music whilst being treated on the Children’s Wards at Lincoln County Hospital.

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Trialling diversionary music techniques during procedures such as blood tests with great success, and looking to develop a toolkit of effective activities through research with the University of Lincoln.

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Transforming the playroom in the ward for a full week’s installation, creating a sensory experience encompassing lighting, a short film of the project and instruments for children to join in with musical activity.

 A multi-arts programme developed to provide a wide ranging

arts and music programme for Looked After Children.  Music-making taster sessions held to encourage music

opportunities, allowing young people a creative platform to share their views and bring to life their music making goals.  Planning and research to develop a sustainable and creative

training programme for Lincolnshire County Council Children’s Services practitioners and officers.  Research partner working with International Centre for

Community Music at York St John University.

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The Groove and Grow programme was established to bring high quality music-making provision to young parents and their children.

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Exciting partnerships formed to enable us to reach young parents who are leaving local authority care.

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Teamed up with Bishop Grosseteste University to research the influence of music interventions with young parents and their children.

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23 Barnardos staff received training regarding the benefits of using music with young parents.

“We have been delighted to work with soundLINCS on this project. It has been a great success and the feedback from patients, families and staff has exceeded our expectations. We are very proud of what has been achieved so far and are looking forward to continuing our partnership with soundLINCS, This is truly an innovative piece of work and we are very lucky to be able to offer it to our young patients.”

Terry Vine, Matron for Acute Paediatrics 5

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Early Years

Adults

Throughout the year soundLINCS has worked in 14 Children’s Centres across Lincolnshire on Early Ears. The project provided over 500 vulnerable parents, carers and their children with music-making opportunities. Early Ears worked closely with 72 CfBT Early Years Practitioners (EYP) to give the opportunity to develop their musical delivery alongside soundLINCS Music Facilitators.

soundLINCS Grantham U3A Ukulele group, furthering their exploration of new genres and developing their skills. The group were also featured in a series of films this year, showcasing one of their performances as well as interviews with several members.

soundLINCS also continues to provide Root Notes residencies for nurseries across Lincolnshire in partnership with the Birth to Five Service. Root Notes supports the professional development of EYP and aims to increase the relevance and impact of creative music making for children, practitioners and the setting.

We were part of The Mighty Creatives’ pilot project Mini Mighty Makers. This saw a soundLINCS Music Facilitator supporting a nursery in Leicestershire to explore more creative approaches to child-led learning exploring new materials and resources.

Watch out for the new First Notes Resource App! Set to launch in June 2016…

The Landmark Trust invited us to take part in their Golden Weekend to celebrate their 50th anniversary at the House of Correction in Folkingham. soundLINCS worked with attendees for a collaborative performance of a specially commissioned piece alongside 24 other landmarks. soundLINCS were approached by the Stroke Association to run a 12 week project providing a music group for stroke survivors. The project used an array of unusual instruments as well as iPads and vocals and was featured in a special report on radio station LincsFM. The Nettleham and Grantham Orchestral Workshops entered their 8th and 18th years, and we also worked in both Lincoln and Manchester providing samba workshops for mental health and wellbeing.

Keep an eye out for our New Tricks programme, launching this year for Older Adults across Lincolnshire...

"The group as a whole is vibrant and parents love to join in with children whatever their age."

"The best workshop and interaction I've seen."

"The sessions led by soundLINCS have been fantastic and interesting, both staff and children have loved taking part in them."

Early Ears Participants

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Training and Advocacy soundLINCS workforce through its e-bulletin soundEMission. It summarises an average of 60 articles about the music sector, distributing to 1800 recipients a month. It has also featured some fantastic soundBYTE interviews and videos, including a series of enlightening and inspiring talks with Dame Evelyn Glennie.

Our workforce has expanded over the year and we welcomed new members to both the Core Team and our freelance Music Facilitators. In January we recruited and inducted 14 new Facilitators based from Pontefract to Rutland and everywhere in between. We have also welcomed five new interns and apprentices into the Core Team.

Congratulations to Sam (previously an intern and now a permanent staff member) who was featured in a nationwide film by CC Skills documenting the success of the Creative Employment Programme.

This growing team of Music Facilitators continue to be offered a vast array of CPD and training, including the annual soundLINCS conference ’Wings to the Mind’ which this year featured a fascinating seminar on the teenage brain from Jo Stockdale of the Child Learning and Development Advisory Centre. 2016 has also seen the beginning of Wednesday Workshop Wonders, a series of fortnightly training sessions for Music Facilitators covering topics from warm-ups with diverse groups to neuroscience, creativity and the brain.

It has been a fantastic year for collaborative events as we have worked with a wide range of partners towards networking events, training and workshops. In December soundLINCS held the Lincolnshire launch of What if Every Child Could Fly?, The Mighty Creatives’ blueprint to inspire innovation in the way that we create culture with, by and for Children and Young People. The event sold out the Lincoln Drill Hall and was followed up beside the sea in March, with over 50 delegates joining us at Butlins for Taking Off, an event to consider how Lincolnshire can grow its cultural engagement for every Child and Young Person. soundLINCS was delighted to deliver the regional East Midlands launch of Soundabout’s Sounds of Intent in the Early Years, an innovative new resource based on pioneering research led by Professor Adam Ockelford into how children’s minds develop musically. We also hosted Rhythmic Routes with Scarlet Music, a drumming masterclass from internationally renowned percussionist Pat Garvey.

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