News & Blog
We are delighted to share that Wishing Well Music for Health has been awarded a grant from Sussex Community Foundation! This vital funding ensures we can continue supporting children and young people across Sussex through music.
This grant will help us achieve creating weekly music spaces for young people. We will be working in partnership with the schools’ mental health service, creating safe, uplifting weekly music sessions where children and young people can express themselves and find joy through music. It will also help us continue our ongoing music-making activities with young people. This grant, matched with funds from the Youth Music grant, supports our wider programme of music-making activities for children and young people across Sussex.
A huge thank you to Sussex Community Foundation for their generous support, which enables us to continue bringing music to the heart of healthcare for young people.
We are thrilled to announce that Wishing Well Music for Health has been awarded a grant from Arts Council England to support our music programme in healthcare settings! This funding enables us to continue our mission of bringing live music to the heart of healthcare and offer moments of calm and connection for patients, families, and staff across the healthcare community in Sussex.
The grant will enable us to give music-making sessions for older patients and those recovering from stroke at Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath and deliver our programme for patients in critical care at Royal Sussex County Hospital. We will also create inclusive musical experiences in public spaces of hospitals, spreading some joy and uplifting the environment for everyone present.
We are grateful to Arts Council England for supporting us to make a meaningful difference to those who are spending time in healthcare settings – thank you! Stay tuned for updates on the programme as it unfolds!
Garfield Weston Foundation generously awarded Wishing Well Music for Health a £10k grant.
The donation will help underpin our mission of bringing live music right to the heart of healthcare, transforming clinical places into music-making spaces and supporting the wellbeing of hospital communities.
Established in 1958, the Garfield Weston Foundation is a family-founded grant-maker.
Each year the Foundation gives away its income, and its donations have continued to grow. It
has donated over £1.4 billion in total, with half of that amount donated in the past 10 years
alone. In the most recent financial year, the Foundation gave way nearly £90 million to over
1,980 charities
A huge thank you to the Weston Garfield Foundation! We look forward to sharing our progress with your support.
Our annual reflection for 2024… and a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us, funded us or made music with us over the last year – we really are so grateful and wish you all a restful festive period!
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.
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