Musical Keys - Community

Musical Keys, founded in Norwich in 1990, works to provide maximum access to music activities for people with disabilities in and around Norfolk and believes that everybody should have access to opportunities that nurture self-expression, celebrate identity and provide joy. By working with other specialist charity partners and local organisations, all ages and abilities are included, from babies undergoing diagnosis and children with complex disabilities, to adults with addiction problems and older people living with dementia.

The BBT Communities grant will support Striking a Chord, a pilot project which will focus on addressing the increase of mental health issues due to the pandemic. The aim is to design an ‘open learning’ programme, delivered by music professionals, that can be scaled up and delivered anywhere.

IMPACT

This is the only time I can relax when I come here. I love being able to make music with others.

Kevin, Participant

We’ve been up to Norwich to film one of our 2021 BBT Communities, Musical Keys and how it used its grant to develop its Sounding a Chord project at the city’s new MIND REST hub. As Chief Executive Gervase Newrick says, “Out of lockdown came some amazing research specifically around wellbeing. They found that music was used heavily as a wellbeing resource, as a way to overcome that kind of social isolation. It was very good in three main areas; venting negative emotions, self-connection and… enjoyment! We needed to capitalise on this and put it to practical use.” Find out how they did this…

Without the amazing funding from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust this group could not have existed. The energy of the group empowers everyone in the room. The music becomes infectious and uplifting with each member feeding the sound. It is a unique and beautiful thing to experience with moments of flow and unbounded joy.