At the end of our 2023–25 strategy period, we’re taking time to reflect on what we’ve achieved, what we’ve learnt and where we go next.
Enabling access to participatory music making isn’t an add-on or “nice thing to have”, but an essential activity that we have woven into the routines of healthcare settings. Connection and self-expression matter, especially in places where people can feel isolated or overwhelmed.
Over the last three years, demand for this work has continued to rise, and we’re proud to say we have stayed closely aligned to our core mission: bringing participatory music right to the heart of healthcare.
- We delivered 878 sessions, reaching over 5500 people.
- We supported 9 apprentice musicians.
- Our work expanded into intensive care and stroke rehabilitation settings
- Our partnership with Brighton and Sussex Medical School delivered multiple elective modules reaching 40 medical students each year.
- 2 new trustees were recruited to strengthen governance and organisational leadership.
- A collective with partner organisations enabled regular training, networking and creative development for all our musicians.
- We started a series of public space performances, ‘Live at the Alex’, in partnership with Rockinghorse Children’s Hospital, reaching staff, families and visitors with soothing music and giving opportunities to emerging musicians.
Our core mission
We maintained our focus on bedside and group music-making with our NHS partners across Sussex and Surrey. We co-designed programmes that respond to the real needs of babies, children, young people and older adults, plus their families and staff who care for them. Hospitals are communities too and we work with the whole ecosystem. Pressures within the health system have increased, but music remains a powerful way to help people feel seen as individuals and not just their diagnosis.
Our weekly music sessions took place in a variety of settings, including:
- Children’s hospitals and neonatal units
- Elderly care and dementia wards
- Psychiatric wards for young people and people with dementia
- Intensive Treatment Units
- Stroke Rehabilitation Centres
Expanding our practice
One of the most exciting developments during this period was the expansion of our programme into new clinical settings.
In 2023, we began working with trauma patients and staff in Intensive Treatment Units (ITU). This opened up new learning for us as an organisation and for our musicians. Using simple technology to create loops, drones and gentle backing tracks, our musicians developed experimental sonic landscapes to radically alter the experience of being in an Intensive Care Unit.
We encountered a patient who shared a story of connection with us. She shared how the music sessions affected her deeply while in an induced coma, giving a sense of calm amidst the stress
Working closely with Speech and Language Therapists at the Sussex Rehabilitation Centre has also been a rewarding development. As a team, we’ve gained insight and expertise into the role music plays in post-stroke recovery.
Supporting the next generation of healthcare professionals
Our partnership with Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) continues to be a key part of our work. Over the past three years, we delivered multiple “Music and the Future Doctor” 8-week elective modules for medical students and guest lectured on the Master’s in Paediatrics, sharing learning, grounded in our experience and Creative Health research on the role music plays in patient wellbeing.
We also began a research partnership with BSMS to help us capture the impact of our work with children and families at The Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton. We are proud of the role we play in developing our future doctors and helping them to reflect not just on how music can impact our mental health but how they can learn from the arts to build trust and rapport with patients and families.
Investing in future Music for Health practitioners
Our talented musicians make Wishing Well the charity that it is! Creating opportunities for emerging music for health practitioners has and will continue to be a central goal for us. During this strategy period, we hosted nine musicians through our apprentice programme. These apprentices came to us through diverse recruitment pathways, bringing new voices, experiences and ways of working into our organisation.
Our professional development collective with fellow Brighton community music organisation, New Note Orchestra and Soundcastle has flourished. By pooling resources, we’ve been able to bring in expert trainers, and create space for networking, practice development and fun!
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Over the past three years, we’ve taken meaningful steps forward in our EDI journey; we have recruited a trustee with EDI expertise, completed a year-long “EDI in the arts” training programme with Spotlight Inclusion, delivered unconscious bias training across our CPD collective and reviewed patient data at partner hospitals to better understand who we are reaching. We successfully widened recruitment to our apprentice programme in order to support musicians who have faced barriers to education and training.
Looking ahead
As we reflect on this strategy period, we feel proud of our team, partners and everyone who has made music with us!
This work is only possible thanks to the support of funders, donors and collaborators who believe in the power of music to support wellbeing. Your investment continuously helps us turn clinical places into cultural spaces, where participants can express themselves, staff feel supported and families feel connected. We’re excited to keep building, learning and making music together!