Musical Befriending

The Musical Befriending Project, made possible by a grant from Postcode Community Trust, taught carers of the elderly or housebound how to use music as a way to communicate and share memories with their clients or loved ones, with the aim of combating loneliness and isolation. It was led by Adrian Plant, who has spent 35 years helping people to improve lives through music and the arts.

The project provided free ‘music-care’ training for volunteers, employees or relatives. As well as musical and creative listening skills, befrienders developed the practical skills to create ‘Desert Island Discs’ style play-lists of favourite music for others, as part of a friendly and supportive group.

The project has created two new memory bags, in partnership with the library service. Called “Music in Early Life” and “Music in Adult Life”, they contain high-quality resources which provide opportunities to spark conversations about the music in people’s lives. A resource pack was also created to help those who participated in the project or those working in care services to use the Musical Befriending techniques with their service users.