Alder Hey Children’s Charity is delighted to announce the launch of our Minds Matter project which will provide a programme of music making activities for children and young people who are struggling with their mental health. This project has been made possible thanks to an amazing grant of £59,980 from the music charity, Youth Music.
Minds Matter has been developed in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the huge impact it has had on many of our patients here at Alder Hey. Our project will form part of our nationally recognised Arts for Health programme which has been supporting our children and young people to establish a better quality of life during their time at Alder Hey. Music has always been one of the most impactful and in demand activities within this programme and over the past two years it has helped to provide a much-needed lifeline for our patients.
Vicky Charnock, Alder Hey’s Arts Coordinator told us:
“Whilst the situation with COVID is now starting to look more positive, sadly it has left a lasting legacy on the mental health and wellbeing of our children and young people. Minds Matter is a really important project for Alder Hey as it will allow us to develop a framework for music delivery in paediatric healthcare settings which will be shared with our colleagues working across the Arts for Health community nationally. This will help ensure that musicians have the skills they need to support the growing number of children who are now presenting with mental health issues that have either been triggered or exacerbated by the pandemic.”
Youth Music is a national charity investing in music-making projects that support children and young people to develop personally and socially as well as musically. Music Matters has been made possible using public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
We are extremely grateful to Youth Music for their continued support of our work and we are confident that Minds Matters will make a huge difference to children both here at Alder Hey and to those being cared for in healthcare settings nationally.
About the Author
Trusts and Foundations Team
The Trusts and Foundations Team is made up of our remarkable fundraisers who work with trusts and foundations to support the work that Alder Hey does with children and young people.