Being Seen, Being Heard, Feeling Connected: Our New Publication

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?

It's a question we've been sitting with for a while. And what we're finding is full of possibility.

Being Seen, Being Heard, Feeling Connected: Our New Publication, out 13 May 2026

Register for the Free Launch Webinar

A new publication from the Sing Up Foundation

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.

Throughout the publication, we use "singing" as shorthand for the full range of vocal work: group singing, songwriting, rap, beatboxing, spoken word, creative vocals and more.

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.

Voices from the field

One of the things that struck us most in putting this publication together was the depth and richness of what practitioners are seeing every day. Their voices run throughout.

Vocal leader Jane Wheeler, who has spent years leading singing with young people across Newham and internationally with the British Council, described what she consistently observes: "It's a way of being acknowledged and recognised and seen, and to be accepted for your sound and your voice."

Music practitioner Chris Morris, working with young people through Yorkshire Youth & Music, put it differently: "A lot of these young people have a deep mistrust of language... what people say. But music, banging a drum, and eye contact while you're banging a drum, or shouting, or singing some lyrics... it's a different thing."

And Dr Hala Jaber, who works with displaced children as a community musician and post-conflict trauma specialist, reminded us what matters most: "We're not looking for the perfect song to be sung amazingly in harmony... It's just about the experience that you're having at the moment with the children."

These practitioners, and many others like them, are already stepping into the gap left by overstretched mental health services. 70% of the practitioners we surveyed want more support and guidance for this work. They're committed. They need the sector to catch up.

What's inside

At the heart of the publication is a simple but powerful idea: many mental health challenges are rooted in disconnection. But what if singing could rebuild those connections? And what if we could start to explain why?

The publication introduces Connection Theory, a new framework from the Sing Up Foundation that maps how singing restores connection across multiple dimensions of a young person's life, and explores why it works when it works.

We also develop DO, KNOW, BE, the practitioner framework we first introduced in 2019. It describes the three areas of competence needed for singing and mental health work: musical skill (DO), mental health knowledge (KNOW), and the relational capacity to build trust and connection (BE). The publication takes this further, exploring what each dimension looks like in practice and what the sector needs to support practitioners across all three.

We explore what makes singing effective for mental health, and why the conditions matter as much as the singing itself.

What we're not claiming

We want to be upfront. This publication doesn't claim that singing is a cure, a replacement for specialist services, or a quick fix. The evidence is promising but not yet conclusive. Practice is ahead of research in many areas. We've tried to be honest about those gaps rather than paper over them.

As neurologic music therapist Alice Nicholls put it: "We cannot give somebody a voice... we can only help them find theirs."

This is a milestone, not a conclusion.

Join the conversation

We're launching the publication on Wednesday 13 May at 1pm with a webinar and panel discussion:

• Baz Chapman, Joint Head of the Sing Up Foundation and lead author

• Professor Graham Welch, Chair of Music Education, UCL Institute of Education

• Ben Turner, Teach First Ambassador and founder of Rap Club

• Facilitated by Katherine Zeserson, Chair of Sing Up

Presentation. Panel discussion. Your questions. A conversation we'd love you to be part of.

Register for the webinar: https://bit.ly/SUFWebinar

Register Now

Can't make the date? You can register for the recordings and we'll send them to you.

The publication will be available to download from 13 May.