Live Music Now Northern Ireland has secured new funding through Round 2 of The Connect Fund to expand its pioneering Lullaby Project, bringing together families in Belfast and Essex through music, songwriting and shared experiences of parenthood and wellbeing.
The award will support the delivery of two Lullaby Projects in Northern Ireland in partnership with The Parent Rooms Belfast, alongside two parallel projects in Essex, England, delivered with Parents 1st. The initiative marks an exciting new chapter for the internationally recognised Lullaby Project, creating meaningful creative connections between communities across both regions.
At the heart of the programme is the power of music to support perinatal mental health, strengthen parent-child bonds and create spaces where families feel heard, supported and connected.
Through a series of cross-regional exchanges, reciprocal visits and celebratory performances, parents and carers from Belfast and Essex will have opportunities to share stories, songs and lived experiences. The programme aims to foster dialogue around identity, wellbeing and community, while building mutual understanding, trust and lasting relationships through collaborative music-making.
The funding follows the success of the Lullaby Project Information Sharing Day held earlier this year at The Parent Rooms Belfast, supported through Round 1 of The Connect Fund. The event brought together charities, funders, health professionals, musicians, researchers and parents from across England and Northern Ireland to explore the role of creative practice in supporting perinatal mental health and early years wellbeing.
That gathering laid the foundations for the first-ever Lullaby Project in Northern Ireland, which is currently underway through a partnership between Live Music Now NI and The Parent Rooms Belfast as part of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme.
The current programme features an outstanding team of Northern Ireland musicians — Gary Day, Amanda St John, Ryan McGroarty and Cheylene Murphy — who are working directly with parents and carers to co-create original lullabies inspired by personal stories, hopes and experiences of early parenthood.
The new Connect Fund award now enables the project to grow beyond regional boundaries, creating an innovative model of cross-community and cross-regional arts engagement rooted in care, creativity and connection.
