Musical Mums
Partner: Harrogate International Festivals
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All images © Copyright Sam Atkins 2007
About this project
Project Background
Now in its 5th year, Musical Mums is a highly successful initiative working with teenage mothers, aimed at creating a welcoming environment and promoting positive interaction with their children through music. The weekly sessions involve music creation and singing, encouraging the children to respond in a positive manner to the music and to the sounds of their mothers' voices. The sessions offer the mothers and their children the opportunity to bond in a way that is otherwise unavailable in their day-to-day lives, learning together in a fun environment, gaining new skills and confidence and making new friends.What was achieved?
The initiative has been shown to decrease feelings of loneliness and isolation for these young mothers and to improve their 'soft' skills such as communication and self-expression. The participants also benefit enormously from gaining the confidence to use music as a tool to bond with their children. All of the young mothers now sing with their children outside of the sessions and several of the children regularly insist on singing their favourite songs."Thank you very much for running the Musical Mums sessions. Me and my son have really enjoyed it so far, so a big thank you." - Young Parent
Sessions also offer opportunities for signposting to guidance on healthcare, housing, education, training and employment opportunities as well as access to additional social activities such as baby swim sessions. This signposting is made possible by working in partnership with Connexions, SureStart, Bumps2Babes (the local midwifery service) and other partners with a wealth of information and advice. Through these partners the project is able to have a greater impact, encouraging mothers to participate in other activities and providing support and guidance. Involvement in additional signposted activities continues to demonstrate far-reaching benefits for young mothers’ educational and working lives, along with their emotional wellbeing and that of their children.
Bus fares are reimbursed for all of the mothers so there is no cost involved in attending sessions and Musical Mums has also worked with various partners to provide incentive schemes to encourage and enable the mothers to attend regularly.
"He's really come out of his shell now hasn't he - he used to be so shy." - Community Midwife
The project also includes a leadership programme, engagement in which supports participants in developing the aforementioned ‘soft-skills’ further, through training in leading the music sessions themselves. With nearly 70% of participants classified as NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) compared with about 10% of all 16-18 year olds, this programme is key to young mothers’ continued engagement in work or learning and reduces the risk of long-term social exclusion.
Attendance at sessions also supports significant transformations in the development of the children aged 0-5 who attend with their mothers. The development of language, communication, coordination, behaviour and social skills such as sharing can be seen to improve week on week amongst the babies and toddlers; through use of songs, actions, puppets and instruments there is a clear link between their interaction with the music and the ways in which the children develop.
