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Practitioners are increasingly required to respond through their musical practice, often without the support or guidance they need.
At the same time, singing and vocal work may offer a powerful way to address the mental health crisis.
What can singing and vocal work really do for children and young people's mental health and wellbeing? Not just making people feel good, but genuinely supporting those who are struggling?
We publish this at a moment when young people are under more mental health pressure than any other age group, and the teachers and practitioners around them are increasingly asked to help through singing, often without the support they need.
Being Seen, Being Heard, Feeling Connected is our new publication exploring what we're learning about singing and vocal work for children and young people's mental health and wellbeing. We've brought together over 50 sources of evidence, practice insight and lived experience to map this emerging territory.
This is a think piece and an invitation. It's not a curriculum, a toolkit or a systematic review. It's an honest look at what we know, what we're discovering, and what we still need to find out. We're a curious convenor here, sharing what we're learning rather than telling anyone what to do.
And this is a conversation, not a conclusion, so we'd love you to join in: tell us what you're seeing, share your story, or come to one of our webinars.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The publication in brief. Young people are facing the toughest mental health pressures of any age group, and the adults around them are increasingly asked to help through singing, often without the support they need.
There’s good evidence singing supports wellbeing; the deeper question is whether it can be part of a genuine response to mental health challenges, and what conditions make that possible.
71%
called young people's mental health challenges 'severe' or 'very severe'
January 2026 Survey, 162 respondents
"We wait for them to be broken and then we say, now we’ll help you."
Carrie Grant MBE, vocal coach and broadcaster
THE SECTIONS
Each tile says what’s inside, so you can choose what to explore. Every chapter is open to everyone but the tags flag who might be most interested.
The scale of the crisis, the CAMHS gap, shifting policy and what the evidence does and doesn't yet show.
2
Wellbeing vs mental health, the tiered model, disconnection as a root and what singing interventions look like.
The heart of it: safe spaces, agency, songwriting, body and breath, belonging and flow.
Who benefits and how: adaptations for specific groups and why intersectionality changes everything.
DO-KNOW-BE, school conditions, partnerships, training, funding and evaluation.
Connection Theory: why singing seems to help, when it doesn't and the conditions that make the difference.
THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES
Catch up on our launch webinar and join one of our upcoming live online sessions.
Watch our Launch Webinar
Join Our Live Online Session
Wednesday, 21 October 2026
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
What do you really need to know about the mental health needs of the young people in the room? In some settings you get care plans and staff briefings. In others you get a room and a year group. Join us to explore what practitioners really need to know, and what to do when you know almost nothing.
THE PUBLICATION: WAYS TO ACCESS
Podcast
Why Young People Stop Singing (And What We Can Do About It) — A Live Webinar Special
Professor Graham Welch , Benjamin Turner, Baz Chapman and chair Katherine Zeserson
The Humanising Power of Singing
Dave Camlin
Young Sessions: Music as Medicine
Lewisham Music, Afiya Lucombe-Davis, Toni-Ann Gurdon, Mimi Mxnroe, H-Jay
Young Sessions: Finding your Flow
Lewisham Music, Afiya Lucombe-Davis, Toni-Ann Gurdon, LifeofKwasi, Ziggy, Marley, Chris MA
