As part of our young people’s music programme, funded by Youth Music and delivered in partnership with Rockinghorse Children’s Charity, we’re excited to offer one last apprenticeship place in 2024.

Our successful applicant will work alongside the Wishing Well team at Chalkhill Hospital in mid-Sussex for 10 weeks. You’ll receive additional support and training before and after the project. This is a paid opportunity to gain experience working with young people and to acquire skills which are transferable to all aspects of a music-based portfolio career.

Criteria for applicants.  You would need:

• Some prior experience or training in either music facilitation or music teaching in community or education settings
• To be registered as self-employed and to have an enhanced DBS check (we can help you with this if needed)
• A keen interest in bringing your music into a mental health setting in a way that prioritises inclusion and respect for participants
• Great communication and listening skills, and enthusiasm for developing a reflective way of working
• To be available for a 10-week placement at Chalkhill Hospital in Haywards Health (mid-Sussex), from 4-6 pm on Tuesdays.  Dates can be agreed with the successful applicant.

We are particularly keen to share this opportunity with people from a diverse range of backgrounds, including those who may have experienced barriers in accessing training or professional development opportunities.

Placement

Chalk Hill is an in-patient hospital in Haywards Heath (mid-Sussex), caring for young people aged 12-18 who are experiencing emotional difficulties, mental health problems and eating disorders.  Our apprentice will support our resident musician with one-to-one and small group sessions involving multi-instrumental work, composition, songwriting and production.

How to Get Involved

The deadline to submit your interest is 1st September 2024.  All you need to do is send us an email telling us a little bit about yourself and your relevant experience. 

To register your interest please email [email protected]

We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

What a previous apprentice, Izzy, had to say

I never really thought I could do something that was so meaningful as working in a mental health hospital…

I think a lot of people who do music can resonate with it being something you want to do because you want to make someone feel something or be able to make their day better or bring them into the present moment… It felt like such a privilege to be able to do that, to have the space to join them [participants at Chalk Hill]… and bring some life to the space with the music.

[The apprenticeship] has been such a valuable thing to have for my CV and the whole experience has highlighted certain aspects of my personality and my skill set that I think I’d really love to develop upon

We’re wrapping up another busy year…

10 Years of Wishing Well

This year we celebrated 10 whole years since starting the first ever Wishing Well music-making sessions with The Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton! So much has happened over the last decade so we made a little something to give you an insight into what that means for us.

Podcast Release

This year we released our first podcast! It was created and produced by one of our extremely talented Wishing Well musicians, Jack Kingslake.

Jack brings together voices of former and current participants from his time at Chalk Hill CAMHs Unit over the last three years. ‘Escucha Me (Listen to Me)’ is full of inspiring stories, conversations from the heart, and beautiful excerpts of music, created in sessions at Chalk Hill.⁠ The result is a powerful and honest conversation about music and mental health.⁠

Public Space Sessions

In addition to our work on the wards, we took some time to share our music in the public spaces at Princess Royal and Royal Sussex County Hospitals. We had a fantastic response and look forward to more sessions in 2024!

Southeast Arts Champion

We continued to represent The Culture Health and Wellbeing Alliance as the South East Arts Champion, where we share knowledge and grow collaborations and partnerships across the region! Take a look at the South East Region here.

Thank You!

We received generous support from a number of organisations who have ensured we will be able to keep doing what we do best for longer! A huge ‘thank you’ goes to…

• Arts Council England
• The National Foundation for Youth Music
• Brighton and Hove City Council
• Chalk Cliff Trust
• The Garfield Weston Foundation
• The Foyle Foundation
• Ernest Klienwort Foundation
• SASH Charity
• Friends of Uckfield Hospital
• My University Hospital Sussex Charity
• Surrey Community Foundation
• The Margaret Fisher Trust
• The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust

Creative Health Review Launch – Live Stream
Wednesday 6^th December 2023, 4-6pm, online

Join the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH) and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing for a live stream of the Launch of the Creative Health Review on 6^th December 2023. Live Streamed from Science Gallery London, King’s College.

Book now for the live stream! 

The Creative Health Review highlights the potential for creative health to help tackle pressing issues in health, social care and more widely, including health inequalities and recovery from COVID-19. It demonstrates that creativity is not just a nice to have, but fundamental to individuals, communities and systems. It supports people to live well for longer, reducing the pressure on health and social care systems and contributing to a healthy and prosperous society.

The Review makes recommendations to Government and Metro Mayors for a cross-departmental strategy on creative health, which will support creative health to flourish and maximise its potential across key policy areas.

Since October 2022, the Review has held a series of online roundtables presenting evidence and examples of the powerful influence creative health can have on our health and wellbeing. Recordings of all the roundtables can be viewed via NCCH’s YouTube channel.

As part of our Youth Music funded programme in children and young people’s healthcare settings, we’re excited to offer places on our Apprenticeship Programme throughout 2024.

Successful applicants will work alongside the Wishing Well team in one of our partner hospitals for 10 weeks, receiving additional support and training before and after their project. This is a paid opportunity to gain experience working with children, young people and families in acute healthcare and to acquire skills which are transferable to all aspects of a music-based portfolio career.

Criteria for Apprentices

• Have some experience/training in musical leadership in community settings.
• This is a paid opportunity so you need to be registered as self-employed and have public liability insurance in place (we can help you with both of those things if needed).
• A keen interest in bringing your music into acute healthcare settings, using your skills to support the wellbeing of the hospital community through connection, empowerment and expression.
• A good communicator and be keen to develope a “reflective” practice.
• To be available for a 10-week placement at one of our 2 partner hospitals in Haywards Health (mid-Sussex) or Brighton. (sessions are 2 hours long on a set day each week).

Placements

Chalk Hill, an in-patient CAMHs (child and adolescent mental health) ward in Haywards Heath (mid-Sussex), supporting our resident musician with one-to-one and small group sessions involving multi-instrumental work, composition, songwriting and production.

The Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital, Brighton. Bedside music-making in children’s critical care and medical wards. Appropriate children’s repertoire and confidence with singing and percussion are essential.

How to Get Involved

This is a rolling programme throughout 2023/24. To register your interest in the programme, please email [email protected]

We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

Today marks World Mental Health Day 2023. We are so proud that on this day we are releasing our first-ever podcast, ‘Escucha Me (Listen to Me)’, created and produced by the incredibly talented Wishing Well musician, Jack!

Jack brings together voices of former and current participants from his time at Chalk Hill CAMHs Unit over the last three years. The result is a powerful and honest conversation about music and mental health.

‘Escucha Me (Listen to Me)’ is full of inspiring stories, conversations from the heart, and beautiful excerpts of music, created in sessions at Chalk Hill.

We are so excited to finally share this with you! A million thanks go to Jack for creating this as part of the Youth Music funded portfolio and to all the young people who shared their thoughts and music with us!

You can listen to it now on our .