The Music Works

The Music Works’ vision is for all children and young people in the county – particularly those facing barriers in music, learning and life – to be able to realise their potential through music, and improve their life chances through creativity, building confidence, self-belief and motivation.

The Wiggin Charitable Foundation is delighted to support The Music Works in providing  specialist music-making opportunities for over 900 hundred disabled young people a year with at least 50% of these programmes & events taking place at The Music Works’ state of the art new inclusive/accessible music studio in Gloucestershire – the Hub. The Hub is the first of its kind in the county, and a national exemplar offering the latest music technology and a specialist music sensory room to really expand the music offer for disabled young people.

The rest of this provision will take place around the county in our other studios or with partners. It will link to the work The Music Works do with disabled young people in schools, including all the Special Schools in the county.

With the support of 25 music leaders, The Music Works will:

• Provide a range of bespoke programmes for disabled children and young people which are accessible to all impairment groups.
• Ensure all programmes are fully accessible and inclusive, where disabled young people and non-disabled young people make music together.
• Use music as a tool to engage disabled young people through creativity, building confidence and self-belief, thereby empowering them to achieve their potential in music, learning and life.
• Enable disabled young people to experiment with and create new technology to continue to widen access to music making.

The programme will work directly with over 900 disabled children and young people a year and will support 25 music leaders to be more inclusive in their practice.

Case Study

Sadi has extreme cerebral palsy. She enjoyed music but was unable to participate except as a passive audience member. Over a series of sessions, The Music Works developed a music interface so she could alter the pitch of a chime by gently squeezing on a sponge. This not only allowed her to play music with other musicians but began to develop her fine motor skills. Other inventions and adaptations have included a joystick operated DJ setup and exploring Eyegaze technology to turn eye movements into musical gestures.

“Music is an amazing way to help young people connect with others, explore their creativity and have fun. Thanks to the Wiggin Foundation, we will now be able to support nearly 1,000 disabled young people to make music and experience all of these benefits at our specialist music Hub in Gloucester. Thank you!” 

Deborah Potts, CEO The Music Works