Transforming Communities

‘Live Music Now at Home’ supports youth mental health with SOUNDTRACK project

Updated 9 October 2020

A new musical resource to support children and young people living with mental health challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond is currently in development at Live Music Now Wales thanks to funding from the national lottery community fund ‘Awards for All’ pot.

The ‘Soundtrack’ project was originally delivered in schools as a six week music and mental health course for children and young people, acting as a community intervention for those living with or at risk of mental health challenges, providing participants with a range of music related tools for ongoing self-care after the project.

Using a mix of live and recorded music through YouTube and Spotify, each session explores a key area that is important to the mental and emotional health of children and young people – and now, thanks to funding, these resources are going online through a new ‘Soundtrack’ website that individuals and Youth Workers will be able to access and follow themselves wherever they are based. The funding also includes a number of 1-1 live sessions over Zoom for children and youth at home who are struggling with their mental health during the pandemic, working with professional LMN musicians over several weeks from their living rooms.

“The number of children and young people with mental health issues continues to rise in the UK” commented LMN Wales Director, Claire Cressey, “Youth services have been cut, CAHMS is oversubscribed and many simply can’t get access to any support until it is extremely serious. Creative expression is extremely beneficial for mental and emotional health. ‘Soundtrack’ was created as a way to help children and young people safely talk about mental health challenges, and teach them skills such as songwriting, drumming, singing, dancing and beatboxing.”

 

The six sessions cover areas such as social media, relationships, physical appearance, self- worth and future hopes/fears using the songwriting, stories and videos of mainstream artists to give words and hope where participants may not have their own. The website will feature performance videos from LMN musicians tailored to each subject area as well as practical videos to teach them creative skills they can use at home. Participants can add to resources by making their own themed Spotify music playlists for each session, helping to share new music and genres with others for whom music can be a lifeline. The website will be launched during the Green Ribbon Arts Festival (26 Oct – 7 November).