Live Music Now Northern Ireland is delighted to announce that we have been awarded £18, 125 of funding from the National Lottery, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and The Baring Foundation’s through the Arts and Mental Health Partnership Programme to launch the Lullaby Project in Northern Ireland for the very first time.
The Lullaby Project is a beautiful and transformative programme using the power of songwriting to support maternal mental health, early childhood development and family wellbeing. Delivered in partnership with The Parent Rooms and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (BHSCT), the Lullaby Project will invite mums and families to collaborate with professional musicians to co-create, sing, and record original lullabies for their babies, strengthening family bonds, building confidence, and nurturing wellbeing through creativity and connection.
Originally pioneered by Carnegie Hall in New York, the Lullaby Project has been proven to have a lasting impact on maternal mental health, confidence, and community belonging. Since becoming an international partner in 2021, Live Music Now has delivered more than 40 projects across England and Wales, supporting over 430 parents and babies.
‘I experienced PTSD and depression. I was on brink of despair… I was offered a place on the Lullaby programme through the Flying Start team. It got me thinking about options, possibilities. I don’t think I’d be here to tell you this if I hadn’t had engaged in the Lullaby programme.”
Live Music Now Cymru Lullaby Participant
Now, with support from the Arts Council Norther Ireland, we will bring the Lullaby Project to Belfast for the very first time, to support 16 mothers experiencing perinatal mental health challenges. Participants will work one-to-one and in groups with Live Music Now musicians to craft personal songs inspired by letters written to their babies. Each lullaby will be professionally recorded as a keepsake and performed at a joyful community celebration.
The project marks a major step in building creative health expertise across Northern Ireland. Over the next 15 months, Live Music Now will not only deliver two eight-week Lullaby programmes, but will train seven Northern Ireland based musicians and also host legacy family music sessions, share learning through a Lullaby Symposium, and refine evaluation frameworks to strengthen the evidence base for arts-based approaches to wellbeing.
To hear lullabies created through previous projects, visit Live Music Now’s SoundCloud.
