Under normal circumstances, Musical Connections run at least 9 weekly music sessions in care and community settings across York, including sheltered housing schemes, churches, a care-home and GP surgeries. Alongside weekly sessions, 50+ community-based intergenerational workshops, projects and concerts take place every year with local schoolchildren and students, and free transport is provided to anyone who needs it. Since the coronavirus-related suspension of these activities, the charity has provided uninterrupted support to its members, many of whom have nobody else, with a range of on- and off-line activities, including phone calls, doorstep singing, recording of members’ favourite songs, online sessions and concerts for those with internet access, and postal parcels for those who are not online, including DVDs of the online material. All of this work has been delivered by the charity’s four professional musicians and a team of over 30 volunteers, plus around 200 local children and young people who have contributed to concerts and recordings. 98% of 84 beneficiaries interviewed in March this year say that the support they have received from Musical Connections has reduced feelings of isolation during lockdown, and 100% say that, despite coronavirus restrictions, it has improved their sense of belonging to a community.
