Our Impact

We feel honoured to work with a huge range and number of organisations and people: in 2017 alone, we had 2393 separate interactions, with 624 individual people throughout the city and beyond.

In 2017, we partnered with 18 organisations (see ‘Partnerships’) to deliver sessions with seniors, for mental health, for people living with dementia with and without carers, with adults with learning disabilities, and for people of all abilities to play stringed instruments together.

Since we started in 2014, we have:

  • Introduced over 1800 adults in our city to music-making
  • Worked with international musicians: India-based classical musicians Trio Benares
  • Played music all over town!: Brighton Royal Pavilion, Brighton Bandstand, World Mental Health Day and many more, as well as in our sessions
  • Presented at conferences such as Nordoff Robbins’ Power of Music, and the first National Alliance of Musicians in Healthcare conference
  • Contributed articles, eg: to national community music organisation Sound Sense

“Music For Connection are an absolutely brilliant, very creative organisation who ran a successful Dementia-Friendly Music Group for 10 weeks this year. Our residents even came up with their own song!”

Steve, New Larchwood Housing Scheme & Community Hub

Our Impact: Living With Dementia

We work with people living with dementia in residential and respite settings (such as Ireland Lodge and Barford Court), and community settings, commissioned by Brighton and Hove CCG / Ageing Well partnership, 2016-22.

In 2019, we worked with 201 individuals living with dementia, and had 945 separate interactions with them throughout the year.

100% of the participants we surveyed said:

  • That it had been easy to join in
  • That they enjoyed being part of the group
  • 85% stated that their mood had improved from the start to finish of the session.
  • 90% said that coming to the sessions has a positive effect on how they feel.  

Case Study

A is in his mid-60s and lives in East Brighton; he’s been coming along to the sessions for eighteen months. His scheme manager has observed that the project has been good for him as it has pulled him from isolation into a group session which he hasn’t done before – this has enabled him to mix with other people.

His enthusiasm for the project has increased as his role has evolved, from just participating, to leading sessions – he reports increased confidence and wellbeing. The scheme manager observed that project gave him a purpose and brought out a more practical, independent side of him.

“I normally play alone but when you play in a group with others all playing you can go off in different directions. I haven’t had this feeling for years. This has given me a structure and something to follow. I feel so sorry for people who’ve never experienced this. The sessions can’t come fast enough.”