FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5 December 2022 Sing Up Foundation appoints a team of researchers from the University of Limerick's Irish World Academy of Music and Dance to conduct a research review on singing with young refugees Sing Up Foundation has appointed Dr Hala Jaber, Dr Fran Garry and Professor Helen Phelan from the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance to conduct research on the impact that singing has on the mental health and wellbeing of young refugee children and unaccompanied minors. Inspired by the British Council’s World Voice projects in Greece and Palestine working with young refugees, this research is supported by the British Council funding received by the Foundation to continue the legacy of World Voice. As part of this work, the research team, headed up by Dr Hala Jaber, will conduct a literature review and evaluation of the benefits of singing on the mental health of young refugees and unaccompanied minors; develop recommendations on how to set up and run sessions and projects in future; and build a repository of research and evaluations in this field for the benefit of organisations looking to develop their practice in this area. The research considers that political and other types of refugees form a group with added vulnerability to developing mental illness, thought to be due to a complex interaction of social, biological and psychological factors, playing out over the lifespan and across communities. Anecdotal reports from teachers working every day with young refugees in their classrooms and from music organisations and World Voice projects overseas, suggests that prioritising singing can help. However, the evidence base for arts interventions in the refugee community is still in development and there is need for a comprehensive, clear collection of effective and evidence-based practice to support the development of this work. With this research project, the Foundation hopes to help inform work in this area and improve outcomes for these young people. Researchers Dr Hala Jaber, Dr Fran Garry and Professor Helen Phelan said, “We are very happy to be working with the Sing Up Foundation on this important research project. As a group of music facilitators and researchers, we recognise the power of music to engage people, and enable the sharing of lived experience. Much of our work focuses on the role of music in supporting the inclusion, health and wellbeing of refugees, particularly in post-conflict contexts. We believe that the best learning comes from combining practice with research and are looking forward to uncovering and sharing, through this project, the knowledge and experiences of excellent music practices when working with refugees and unaccompanied minors.” Celi Barberia, Head of Sing Up Foundation said, “We have been so inspired by the work we have seen with young refugees and wanted to support the sector with this research to help inform practice and promote the impact that it can have on the lives of these very vulnerable young people. We are passionate about the benefits of singing on health and wellbeing and hope that through this research review we can help support those working with young refugees and unaccompanied minors to use the most effective evidence-based singing strategies to help improve outcomes. We are excited to be working with Dr Jaber, Dr Garry and Prof Phelan who are experts in the field and excellent advocates for the work.” ENDS Notes to editors Sing Up Foundation (www.singupfoundation.org) is the charitable arm of Sing Up. Sing Up has always been a champion of the wider benefits of singing – for education, social and health outcomes – and marked its 10th birthday in 2017 by launching the Sing Up Foundation, a charity with a commitment to a new charitable purpose supporting singing for health and wellbeing. Sing Up Foundation received a grant from the British Council in 2020 to continue the legacy of the British Council’s World Voice Programme. The World Voice programme worked in 23 countries across seven years training teachers overseas to use singing to develop musicality and as a tool for learning in the classroom. As part of this legacy, Sing Up Foundation has been consulting with partners overseas and working to create a new platform to continue this work which will feature this research. For more information on World Voice, visit: https://www.singupfoundation.org/worldvoice Sing Up (www.singup.org) is an award-winning organisation that provides resources, training and guidance to support singing and music in schools. Sing Up believes that all children and young people have a right to good quality singing provision, to deepen their understanding of music and singing, raise attainment and develop lasting tools to express themselves with confidence and creativity. With over 15 years of experience at the forefront of music education, Sing Up’s specially arranged songs, teaching tools and support put singing and music at the heart of learning. Dr Hala Jaber is an Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Limerick, Ireland with a decade of facilitation experience with young people in the Middle East and Ireland as a music educator and community music facilitator. Her PhD in Arts Practice engaged critically with the music-making experiences of Syrian migrants escaping the war in their homeland. Her Postdoctoral degree investigates the co-designing, delivering, and evaluation of a training program that is trauma-informed for arts facilitators working in the context of post-conflict migration. Dr Fran Garry currently works as a postdoctoral researcher with the Health Research Institute, PART-IM (Participatory and Arts-Based Methods for Involving Migrants in Health Research) cluster at the University of Limerick. She is a singer, songwriter, community music educator, and an arts-based and arts practice researcher. Her work in educational and community settings includes choral leadership, vocal tuition, facilitation of musical composition, and arts project management. Prof Helen Phelan is a Professor of Arts Practice and Director of the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance. She is the programme director of the PhD in Arts Practice and an Irish Research Council recipient for her work on music and migration. She is the founder of the Singing and Social Inclusion research group and Chair of IMBAS, a support network for artistic research in Ireland. She is PI of the PART-IM research cluster on arts-based methods in migrant health research, bringing together NGO partners with researchers in medicine, nursing & midwifery and the performing arts. For further information, please contact Celi Barberia, celi.barberia@singup.org

On 26 May and 30 June 2023, Sing Up Foundation, Singing for Health Network and Music for Good are partnering to deliver an online conference to spotlight research and practice in Singing for Mental Health and Wellbeing with a focus on Children and Young People. The conference will be split up into two days to cover this vast and growing area of work. The first day will focus on innovative practice and approaches by practitioners and organisations and the second will focus on sharing research from projects led by practitioner-researchers, early career researchers and established researchers. Practitioners, researchers and organisations can now submit proposals to present at the conference and get involved. More information is available on the Singing for Health website: https://www.singingforhealthnetwork.co.uk/call-for-papers The deadline for all submissions is Thursday, 6 April 2023. Bookings are now open to those who would like to attend the two-day online conference on 26 May 2023 and 30 June 2023. Book now via the Singing for Health Network website: https://www.singingforhealthnetwork.co.uk/event-details/singing-for-mental-health-and-wellbeing-spotlight-on-children-and-young-people-2023-05-26-09-00

The Sing Up Foundation is pleased to announce that Dr Jeremy Sleith has been appointed as the next Chair of the Board of Trustees. Dr Sleith brings extensive experience in the music education sector as Head of St Helen’s Music Service since 2008 and has been a Trustee of the Sing Up Foundation since 2020. Dr Sleith also brings a particular interest in music and the arts for health and wellbeing with years of experience developing and advocating for programmes that support young people's engagement and attainment, in addition to promoting arts on prescription alongside colleagues in health and young people’s services in St Helen’s. On his appointment, Dr Jeremy Sleith has said: “I feel very fortunate to be taking over the role of Chair from David as he has laid the secure foundations for the work we have been developing. It has been great to be involved with the Sing Up Foundation as we bring together a broad range of resources and approaches to support young people at this most-needed time. Those involved in music-making and music education already know the power that music has to change lives. With the expert panels and other development work over the last year, it has been exciting to bring together workshop leaders, therapists and other health, community, and educational specialists to inform and support the work of the Foundation moving forward.” Departing Chair of Trustees, David Sulkin OBE said: “It was an honour and pleasure to serve as the chair the Sing Up Foundation for five years. There is much to be done in future concerning children, young people, health, well-being and the natural synergy of music and singing. I’m certain that Dr Sleith is the perfect person to lead the Foundation to the next level.” Celi Barberia, Head of Sing Up Foundation said: “We’re really excited that Dr Jeremy Sleith will be stepping into the role of Chair of our Board of Trustees. Following the work of the last year with the developments made possible by our Arts Council Cultural Recovery Funding and our work on the legacy of the British Council’s World Voice project, we have lots of new work launching in 2023. Jeremy’s leadership and experience will be invaluable in helping to shape the future of the Foundation. We’d also like to take the opportunity to thank David Sulkin OBE for his support, advice and guidance over the first five years of the Foundation in helping to establish and create our charity. He’s been a part of the Sing Up family since the very beginning and always will be.” ENDS Notes to editors Sing Up Foundation (www.singupfoundation.org) is the charitable arm of Sing Up. Sing Up has always been a champion of the wider benefits of singing – for education, social and health outcomes – and marked its 10th birthday in 2017 by launching the Sing Up Foundation, a charity with a commitment to a new charitable purpose supporting singing for health and wellbeing. The Sing Up Foundation believes in harnessing the power of singing to improve people's mental health and wellbeing. With 50% of mental health problems established by the age of 14 and 75% by the age of 24, the Sing Up Foundation believes it's critical to focus on prevention by working with young people. The benefits of singing, especially in groups, are wide-ranging with extensive research supporting the physiological, social, psychological and behavioural benefits. The Sing Up Foundation produces, promotes and creates opportunities for children and young people to improve their mental health and wellbeing through singing. In addition to Dr Jeremy Sleith, the following health, education and music specialists sit on the Sing Up Foundation Board of Trustees –Michelle James (Sing Up CEO), Dr Andrew McWilliams (Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Researcher from University College London, Kings College Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital), Beth Millett (Sing Up Publishing Manager), Dr Motje Wolf (Senior Lecturer in Education (Music), De Montfort University) Sing Up (www.singup.org) is an award-winning organisation that began as a government funded programme to reinstate singing in primary schools in 2007. It was a very successful programme, reaching 98% of primary schools by 2012. Since 2012, when the funding stopped, the organisation has sustained itself entirely through earned income from schools’ membership subscriptions and the continued loyalty and investment from schools is a sign of the value they place on singing and on the work of Sing Up. Sing Up provides resources, training and guidance to support schools and believes that all children and young people have a right to good quality singing provision, to deepen their understanding of music and singing, raise attainment and develop lasting tools to express themselves with confidence and creativity. With over 15 years of experience at the forefront of music education, Sing Up’s specially arranged songs, teaching tools and support put singing at the heart of learning. Dr Jeremy Sleith has worked as the Head of St Helens Council Music Service since its inception in 2008. Previously he held senior roles within Stockport and Suffolk Music Services and has much experience of instrumental and curriculum leadership and teaching over a 30+ year career. He gained a PhD in education research investigating how a service could create a Wider Opportunities programme that considered its participants as musicians and the class as a band or orchestra from the first lesson. He has also been instrumental in setting up a Music Education Hub Alliance across the Liverpool City Region and the Local Cultural Education Partnership for St Helens. Over the past few years, Jeremy has become passionate about the role that music and the arts can play in the lives of young people. He is an advocate for a broad and balanced school curriculum that supports the intellectual and emotional growth and understanding in all young people. More recently, he has become a keen advocate for the use of the arts as therapy and is currently developing a number of arts on prescription models to support young people's wellbeing. David Sulkin OBE has been the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Sing Up Foundation since 2017, helping to establish and create the Foundation. Throughout his career, David has played a leading role in arts education. Roles include, Director of the Royal Court Young People’s Theatre, Co-founder of the Baylis Programme at English National Opera, Director of Policy and Programmes at Youth Music, Chief Executive of Help Musicians UK and currently Director of Artist Development at the National Opera Studio, where he is leading on a special programme to increase access to training for the opera stage called Diverse Voices. He helped establish the International Festival of Young Playwrights in Australia and has worked extensively in the Czech Republic, directing plays and operas. He was Associate Director of Janáčkovy Hukvaldy - the Janáček Festival in the composer’s home village in Northern Moravia and is currently special advisor for learning and participation at the National Theatre of Prague. While at Youth Music, David led on the campaign to reintroduce singing in primary schools which led to the publication of the ground-breaking Singbook followed soon afterwards by the National Singing Programme which became Sing Up. David has worked a trustee for many organisations including, Chair of governors at Clerkenwell Parochial School, Chair of the Cripplegate Foundation, Chair of the North London Children’s Choir and trustee of the Association of Charitable Organisations and is delighted to be chair of the Sing Up Foundation. David was awarded an OBE in HM The Queen’s New Year’s Honours in 2014. His interests include motorcycling, sea-bathing, Russian language and culture and the history of early recording. For further information, please contact Celi Barberia, celi.barberia@singup.org

NEW DATES ADDED: Find out more and apply to take part in our pilot training course for singing leaders who deliver one to one or group singing with children or young people.. Music for Good, Sing Up Foundation and Sing Up are seeking participants to take part in a course in January on developing trauma and mental health-informed singing practice. The course will run fortnightly for a total of 5 sessions that will be 2.5 hours each. There will also be a follow-up feedback and development session. The sessions will take place in the evenings (GMT) and the course is open to international participants. The pilot will lead into a more developed training package with resources to be launched in 2023. This is a unique experience for participants to be involved in the development of a brand new and innovative training course. This pilot is a unique opportunity to take part in an interactive and reflective online training course on this important topic. Participants will: Represent a range of backgrounds and professional contexts Commit to attending the full course, including the feedback and development session Be prepared to engage in the development of future resources, if relevant and applicable Provide detailed feedback to Music for Good, Sing Up Foundation and Sing Up on the course to help shape and develop it Commit to the fee of £150 for the course (this cost has been subsidised by Youth Music funding) Based on feedback so far, this course will deliver a combination of theory and practice, with the aim of providing a solid foundation of knowledge and understanding from which to develop professional practice. It will be interactive, practical and there will be valuable opportunities for discussion and sharing amongst peers on the course. The content is driven by research and evidence and the development of the course and resources has been part-funded by Youth Music. This pilot course will be delivered online by Emily Foulkes. Emily is an experienced practitioner, researcher and trainer with a specialism in Trauma and Mental Health. She has provided training for over 100 singing practitioners, across the UK and beyond and has delivered talks and presentations at numerous conferences and events, including for the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, AOTOS (Association of Teachers of Singing), Music Education Hubs, The TRUIMPH Network and for Voice Study Centre. The course will run on the below dates (5-7:30pm GMT) 24th January, 7th February, 21st February, 7th March and 21st March with a follow up development session within a few weeks of the course completion. Sessions will be held on Zoom. To apply to be part of the pilot course, please complete the application form: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/5QRULU/ Closing date: 15 January 2023

Project Lead Baz Chapman updates on progress and consultations around the Foundation's work to create a platform to support singing for children & young people's mental health & wellbeing. I’m working with the Sing Up Foundation on a project funded by Arts Council England’s Culture Recovery Fund. We aim to take major strides in supporting singing for mental health & wellbeing in children & young people, by creating an infrastructure which helps anyone looking to develop their work in this field to find what they need and be part of the change. Bringing together such huge areas as children & young people, mental health & wellbeing and music-making poses major challenges for where to find focus and ensure that the Foundation can be of most use. So we’ve been consulting with a diverse range of professionals to help us refine our approach. Over the Summer 2022 we recruited an Expert Advisory Panel to act as a sounding board and critical friend – you can meet them in a forthcoming blog. Then in September we convened 2 days of roundtables, attended by community music practitioners, music therapists, teachers, project managers, mental health professionals and Sing Up staff. The aims were: 1. Practice & Pedagogy To understand the deeper context of singing pedagogy and practice to support mental health conditions amongst children & young people To understand effective practice in this context and how to disseminate it amongst a wider workforce To consider the role and requirements of research in informing this work 2. Repertoire & Resources To understand the deeper context of singing repertoire and resources to support mental health conditions amongst children & young people To review Sing Up’s current repertoire and resources – what/how to repurpose/renew How to present the new platform Any new materials/commissions required? There was inherent value simply in bringing these influential and expert people together to converse; however the emerging themes from the roundtables will greatly help to guide our next steps. These include: 1. Emerging themes - Practice & Pedagogy Focusing our support and resources on schools, aiming to complement existing provision with expert guidance, and to promote work which can celebrate children & young people’s music making for its own sake, as helping them find ways to prevent or cope with more serious mental health conditions The need for guidance on how much a practitioner needs to know about the people in the room – specific conditions, triggers, etc. The huge importance of creating a ‘safe space’ in its widest sense, so that the work can have maximum impact How to support better connectivity between music participation and music therapy The need for further exploration into the function of group singing to support a range of inter-related outcomes (e.g. musical, psychosocial, clinical) The importance of bringing theory, research and reflective practice into intervention design The need for practitioners to look after their own mental health & wellbeing, and be part of a supportive community of practice 2. Emerging themes - Repertoire & Resources A digital platform which offers a wide range of resources, training, etc. but which can package content into courses for particular types of user, such as guidance for non-expert singing leaders, or specific topics, e.g. neuro-divergence Resource packs which can be both physical and digital, and which can be flexed to suit particular users Recognition that creative music making (e.g. improvisation or song-writing) is usually a key aspect of work in this field, and needs effective planning and expertise From here, we will begin to plan our digital platform to support leaders & organisers of singing for children & young people's mental health & wellbeing, which will be housed on the Sing Up Foundation website. Over time we will build up a bank of resources, information & guidance, training and a network of practitioners and partners to create something which will be of long-lasting value, and will facilitate more high-quality work taking place which leads to more positive outcomes for children & young people. If you’re working in this field and feel you might have something, either to contribute or to request, do get in touch with us at info@singupfoundation.org Special Thanks to those who attended our roundtables: Day 1: Pedagogy and Practice Sangeeta Ambegaokar - Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Shelly Ambury - Sing Up Jonny Amos - songwriter, producer Celi Barberia - Sing Up Foundation Baz Chapman - Sing Up Foundation (facilitator) Gail Dudson - Yorks Youth & Music Sharon Durant - Sing Up/practitioner Clare Edwards - Young Voices Alex Evans - Kazzum Arts Alice Hale - Mytime Active Dougie Lonie - Sing Up Foundation Expert Adviser/TIALT Beth Millett - Sing Up Phil Mullen - music practitioner Aga Serugo-Lugo - music practitioner Jeremy Sleith - Sing Up Foundation trustee/St Helen’s Music Service Ben Turner - Rap Club Jane Wheeler - Living Song Sarah Wiltshire - Place2Be Jenny Young - Blue Cabin Day 2: Resources Shelly Ambury - Sing Up Baz Chapman - Sing Up Foundation (facilitator) Sharon Durant - Sing Up/practitioner Sophie Garner - music practitioner and writer Beth Millett - Sing Up Alice Nicholls - Chiltern Music Therapy Jeremy Sleith - Sing Up Foundation trustee/St Helen’s Music Service Keith Sykes - Lewisham Music

Sing Up Foundation is looking to appoint a charity fundraiser to help the organisation bring in funds over six months commencing December 2022/January 2023. The commission can be for a freelancer, a fixed-term employee or an organisation. The Foundation has already secured a sustainability grant from Arts Council England, which will help it to create a permanent online platform to support professionals (including those who are not expert singing practitioners) working with singing and children & young people’s (CYP) mental health & wellbeing, with a particular focus on schools. It now seeks funding to build a much-needed community of practice, commission resources and a training offer, and support action research through innovative projects across the country. Such work is likely to involve a range of partners, with the Foundation being the lead partner and budget holder. We are particularly interested in fundraising to run a singing for wellbeing action research project based in five secondary schools working with a partner organisation – this project already has a developed case for support. As a growing organisation working in a broad and complex field, we are also looking at other potential projects, which may include (but not exclusively): Commissioning a suite of training videos and accompanying resources to support song writing as a way to connect with and support CYP Action research into collaborative approaches between music therapists and singing practitioners, exploring the inter-relationship between clinical, psychosocial and musical outcomes A singing for wellbeing project working with young refugees and unaccompanied minors Naturally, the Foundation would also be in a position to respond to new identified funding opportunities for other programmes which align with its aims. Activities: Create a case for support for the Foundation and a 3-5-year fundraising plan Plan potential trust & foundation approaches with SUF staff, including a review of potential funders on the existing Foundation database Update or create cases for support for activity as required Identify, research and advise upon opportunities for funding these projects through Trusts and Foundations. Submit and manage the application process for these fundraising activities Requirements: Five years’ experience in fundraising for charities especially with Trusts and Foundations Recent success with applying for grants with Trusts and Foundations Up to date understanding of the charity sector, undertaking due diligence and charity legislation Excellent written English and attention to detail for writing proposals, reports, applications, etc Desirable Experience/Expertise: Arts/Music/Singing Primary & secondary education Disadvantaged/Marginalised Groups Refugees Mental Health/Health Projects Experience with Individual Giving/Crowdfunding How to apply For further information and to apply, please send your CV (including 2 references) and a response to the brief, including your proposed amount of time and costs, to development@singupfoundation.org. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview over Zoom with the Sing Up Foundation team. Deadline for applications: 9am on Monday 14 November 2022 If you would like an informal conversation regarding the brief, please get in touch with Celi Barberia, Head of Foundation at development@singupfoundation.org. For more information on Sing Up Foundation, visit www.singupfoundation.org Download a PDF version of this commission:

Sing Up Foundation are inviting organisations to tender for a literature review and a collection of case studies and best practice Political and other types of refugees form a group with added vulnerability to developing mental illness, thought to be due to a complex interaction of social, biological and psychological factors, playing out over the lifespan and across communities. Anecdotal reports from teachers working every day with young refugees in their classrooms and from music organisations and World Voice projects overseas, suggests that prioritising singing can help. However, the evidence base for arts interventions in the refugee community is still in development. The Sing Up Foundation is therefore looking to perform a review of research and evaluations to date dealing with singing and mental health in young refugees and unaccompanied minors. The Sing Up Foundation aims to gain knowledge of the benefits, and collate and disseminate findings. Ultimately, this knowledge could be used to develop recommendations about how to set up and run sessions and projects in future. Additionally, we plan to build a repository of research and evaluations in this field for the benefit of organisations looking to develop their practice in this area. The deadline for responses is 5pm, 21 September 2022. Interviews with shortlisted candidates will be held online on 29 September 2022. Download our tender documentation below. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the project, please contact info@singupfoundation.org

Find out more and apply to take part in our pilot training course for singing leaders who deliver one to one or group singing with children or young people.. Music for Good, Sing Up Foundation and Sing Up are seeking participants to take part in a course this Autumn on developing trauma and mental health-informed singing practice. The course will run fortnightly for a total of 5 sessions that will be 2.5 hours each. There will also be a follow-up feedback and development session. The sessions will take place in the evenings (GMT) and the course is open to international participants. The pilot will lead into a more developed training package with resources to be launched in 2023. This is a unique experience for participants to be involved in the development of a brand new and innovative training course. Participants will: Represent a range of backgrounds and professional contexts Commit to attending the full course, including the feedback and development session Be prepared to engage in the development of future resources, if relevant and applicable Provide detailed feedback to Music for Good, Sing Up Foundation and Sing Up on the course to help shape and develop it Commit to the fee of £150 for the course (this cost has been subsidised by Youth Music funding) Based on feedback so far, this course will deliver a combination of theory and practice, with the aim of providing a solid foundation of knowledge and understanding from which to develop professional practice. It will be interactive, practical and there will be valuable opportunities for discussion and sharing amongst peers on the course. The content is driven by research and evidence and the development of the course and resources has been part-funded by Youth Music. This pilot course will be delivered online by Emily Foulkes. Emily is an experienced practitioner, researcher and trainer with a specialism in Trauma and Mental Health. She has provided training for over 100 singing practitioners, across the UK and beyond and has delivered talks and presentations at numerous conferences and events, including for the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, AOTOS (Association of Teachers of Singing), Music Education Hubs, The TRUIMPH Network and for Voice Study Centre. Dates of the course: 18th October, 1st November, 15th November, 29th November, 13th December (online). Feedback and development session TBC. To apply to be part of the pilot course, please email emily@musicforgood.uk for application details. Closing date: Friday 9th September 2022

Baz Chapman shares with us as he begins working with the Sing Up Foundation as a project lead on a sustainability programme which is being supported by Arts Council England's Culture Recovery Fund. It’s 10 years since I stepped down from my role as Sing Up Programme Director, and I’m thrilled, both to see how Sing Up has flourished since those heady days of it being the Government’s ‘national singing programme’, and also to be back working with this superb organisation for a year in a freelance capacity. The Sing Up Foundation produces, promotes and creates opportunities for children & young people to improve their mental health & wellbeing through singing, and I’ve started working with the Foundation as project lead on a sustainability programme which is being supported by Arts Council England’s Culture Recovery Fund. The aim is to take major strides in supporting singing for mental health & wellbeing in children & young people, by creating an infrastructure of resources & CPD and a network of partnerships so that anyone looking to develop their work in this field can find what they need and be part of the change. Research points to the huge, often unique, benefits which singing can have for children & young people’s mental health and wellbeing, and as we emerge from the pandemic we have more cause than ever to ensure that our younger generation is able to feel positive and motivated about life, psychologically, socially, behaviourally and physiologically. So I’m working on a project which will help the workforce and partners across education, community and health/healthcare sectors to access the following: Singing resources – through the curation and publication of resources already existing within Sing Up’s library which support singing for mental health & wellbeing – repurposed and added to. Partnerships – enabling greater depth and reach for this field of work, and access to formal and informal networks of practitioners, researchers, health professionals, and children & young people. Online skills sharing & training – extending Sing Up’s teacher/practitioner network offer to include a digital space for collaboration, discussion and reflection. There’s a wealth of practice and expertise in singing for mental health & wellbeing in the UK and beyond, and I’m looking forward to working with the Sing Up Foundation to help broaden opportunities for schools, mental health and community settings to increase their impact in this valuable field of work. Please don't forget to subscribe using the form below to continue receiving updates on our work and feel free to contact us if you'd like to be involved. You can also fill out this survey to get involved with this work: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/5QZPKLY

Baz Chapman and Fiona Harvey are working with the Sing Up Foundation to help create a legacy for the World Voice programme (see our news item in November).They talk about their work so far and the likely next steps for this important international programme. Where to start? Our initial work has focused on research and consultation – after all, it’s 8 years since the first World Voice programmes began, and a lot has happened since then! Building on Sound Connections’ excellent evaluation of World Voice, we’ve been keen to find out how things are now in those countries who engaged with the original programme, and to understand how best to support them in the future, particularly through a digital platform of songs, resources, etc. Our conversations so far have been fascinating. We’ve spoken with representatives from 10 countries: Brazil, Chile, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Lebanon, Nepal, Palestine, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. Given that all were, at the time of their initial World Voice programmes, ODA Countries (recipients of Official Development Assistance for developing countries receiving UK aid), it was unsurprising to learn that all were facing significant challenges as a result of the pandemic, and the continuation of singing in their schools has been patchy. However, the over-riding message from our conversations has been that World Voice was a transformative and hugely positive programme, whose impact and legacy lives on in some way, whether that be through World Voice songs continuing to be sung in schools, influence at national level on the place of singing within the curriculum, support for refugees, or the legacy of the visits by the World Voice trainers: “Richard Frostick was the one special key element that we probably wouldn’t have been able to do this without. It's been 6 years since we had Richard here – they still talk about him!... it was his methodology that stuck.” British Council representative, Chile As a result, there was a strong desire from all the nations we spoke with to continue World Voice in some way, even though the capacity for state schools in these countries to pay for support or resources is largely non-existent. Which poses us an interesting challenge – How to make it free? What do these nations want? In the UK, we tend to think of a digital music offer for schools as being something accessed via desktop, laptop computer, interactive whiteboard or tablet, whereas teachers in most of the schools in World Voice countries do not use, or have access to, these devices for teaching. Smartphones linked to Bluetooth speakers, and either streaming (where wifi/phone data permits) or using downloaded media files is the norm, and means that we need to approach any digital platform in quite a specific way. Most nations would want their schools to be able to access the bank of World Voice songs that were created during the programme, along with its supporting resources. There are currently insufficient funds to deploy our World Voice expert trainers around the world again, but there was strong support for the idea of creating podcasts and other forms of professional development, so that teachers and trainers in those countries could continue to develop their practice. Likewise, the networking aspects of World Voice – sharing songs and approaches across nations – was felt to be a valuable aspect of any future offer. So we will plan the legacy offer of World Voice on this basis, and are still working on how best to create a platform which is free to access by those schools who cannot afford to pay. Emerging themes In addition to our work on maintaining some sort of global membership of World Voice, there are two strong themes emerging from our research that we feel are important to address: 1. A number of World Voice countries used World Voice as a way to support young refugee and asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors. We will be channeling some of the World Voice legacy into action research in the UK to explore further how singing can be used to break down barriers and help welcome children and young people into new countries. 2. Perhaps the most significant and alarming issue arising from those countries with whom we’ve spoken has been the situation with the mental health and wellbeing of their children and young people. In the wake of the pandemic, there is anecdotal evidence of this becoming a global crisis. Whilst deeply concerning – and reflective of our situation here in the UK – this presents an opportunity for World Voice, which all the nations we’ve spoken to support. As we know, group singing has extraordinary potential to help improve mental health and wellbeing, and to support schools to bring their young people together in bonding and uplifting activities. Singing must be a part of society’s response to the pandemic, and its ability to enhance mental health and wellbeing will form a major thrust of the legacy of World Voice. Please explore our World Voice area to find out more about World Voice, download the evaluation and explore the resources, teaching videos and songs.

Music for Good is delighted to have secured funding from the National Foundation for Youth Music to further develop and roll-out a programme of training for singing teachers and leaders. Working with Sing Up and the Sing Up Foundation, the training and resources will be focused on trauma and mental health-informed theory and practice and will be rolled out via Music Education Hubs in 2022. Music for Good Director and Practitioner Emily Foulkes has developed training based on her Masters research and will be joined by psychotherapists and other specialists to further refine and develop training and resources. In order to help inform the training, a short survey (https://bit.ly/M4GSUFTraining) is available for singing teachers and practitioners to complete. The survey also provides an opportunity for leaders to express their interest in the training and sign up for updates. A mixture of face-to-face and online, the training will be available nationally to teachers and facilitators of singing with children and young people. Emily says ‘particularly at this time, as we are emerging into life post-lock down, we know that mental health challenges are prevalent and mainstream services are likely to be under tremendous pressure. Equipping singing and music practitioners with skills and understanding in trauma and mental health could have a significant impact, especially as singing is fast becoming recognised for it’s potential to promote wellbeing.’ The Sing Up Foundation was set up in 2018 with the mission to produce, promote and create opportunities for children and young people to improve their mental health and wellbeing through singing. With its commitment to this mission and the expertise of Sing Up, this is an exciting opportunity to disseminate training and resources to a wide audience and ultimately improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people through singing. Celi Barberia, Head of Sing Up Foundation says, ‘Time and again, research has proved the impact that singing can have on health and wellbeing and we’re excited to help support teachers and leaders to incorporate this mental health-informed learning in their practice. At this critical moment with a growing mental health crisis, this work with Music for Good will support leaders today and also create resources and opportunities that will have long-lasting impact.” For more information about this CPD programme or the work of Music for Good visit www.musicforgood.uk and for more information about Sing Up Foundation https://www.singupfoundation.org/ Notes to Editors: The survey for singing leaders to help inform the training is available at: https://bit.ly/M4GSUFTraining Music for Good is a charity based in Cornwall, providing, supporting and facilitating high quality music and singing provision to support learning and promote well-being. Established in 2001 as CYMAZ, Music for Good has been developing the workforce and delivering inclusive music activities for 20 years. A trauma and mental health informed organisation, the charity works in Education, Health and Community sectors. The National Foundation for Youth Music provides Lottery funding to projects in England which are targeted at children and young people facing barriers to participation. Emily Foulkes completed a Masters in Voice Pedagogy (distinction) with a specialism in trauma and mental health. She has delivered training and consultancy on this topic for a range of organisations, institutions and practitioners. Emily is a trainer for Trauma Informed Schools UK and a senior lecturer for the Voice Study Centre. Sing Up is an award-winning organisation that began as a government funded programme to reinstate singing in primary schools in 2007. It was a very successful programme, reaching 98% of primary schools by 2012. Since 2012, when the funding stopped, the organisation has sustained itself entirely through earned income from schools’ membership subscriptions and the continued loyalty and investment from schools is a sign of the value they place on singing and on the work of Sing Up. Sing Up provides resources, training and guidance to support schools and believes that all children and young people have a right to good quality singing provision, to deepen their understanding of music and singing, raise attainment and develop lasting tools to express themselves with confidence and creativity. With ten years of experience at the forefront of music education, Sing Up’s specially arranged songs, teaching tools and support put singing at the heart of learning. Sing Up has always been a champion of the wider benefits of singing – for education, social and health outcomes – and marked its 10th birthday in 2017 by launching the Sing Up Foundation, a new charity with a commitment to a new charitable purpose supporting singing for health and wellbeing. For further information, please contact Emily Foulkes, (email: emily@musicforgood.uk)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Sing Up Foundation continues the legacy of the British Council’s World Voice programme, building upon the seven-year initiative which worked across 23 countries As the world succumbed to a global pandemic in 2020, World Voice, a British Council initiative, was drawing to a close after seven ground-breaking years and now, the Sing Up Foundation is taking on the programme to develop and continue the legacy of the international initiative. Starting in 2013, World Voice was inspired by Sing Up and developed by the British Council and Artistic Director Richard Frostick to train teachers overseas to use singing to develop musicality and as a tool for learning in the classroom. In seven years, World Voice enriched the lives of 1.55 million children and developed the skills of over 12,000 teachers across 23 countries (Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Nepal, Palestine, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Siera Leone, Sudan, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe). World Voice worked in a wide variety of contexts and was adapted to support a range of outcomes for children, from supporting language learning, to fostering a sense of community in refugee camps, to using the content of songs to learn about curriculum subjects and more. Across all of the contexts and across the world, World Voice managed to have a real impact on the wellbeing of the children and their teachers, highlighting and supporting the established research about the wide-ranging benefits of singing on health and wellbeing. In the World Voice evaluation conducted by Sound Connections, amongst many important outcomes, the benefits of the singing programme on overall wellbeing, on the children’s sense of achievement, social skills, behaviour, engagement and building relationships were all highlighted as key outcomes. Developed by Richard Frostick and built on a cascade model, the international training programme first sent in experienced singing leaders to work with children, then train the children’s teachers, music specialists and lay teachers and finally train some of these teachers to become Master Trainers to mentor and cascade the methods further. The programme was underpinned by a set of resources and a handbook, all of which will be available through the Sing Up Foundation. The World Voice Teacher’s Handbook, videos, the Sound Connections evaluation and a selection of song materials are now available at www.singupfoundation.org/worldvoice Celi Barberia Head of the Sing Up Foundation, says: “We’re incredibly honoured to continue and build upon the World Voice programme. It‘s clear that World Voice had a profound impact and over the next year we will develop the work to celebrate the legacy established by the British Council and create a revitalised World Voice programme.” Cathy Graham OBE, Director of Music at the British Council, says: “The joy that World Voice has generated for everyone who has been associated with it across the world is truly inspirational, and a ringing endorsement of the power of singing to improve lives. As Sing Up is the organisation which delivered the National Singing Programme in England during 2007 – 2012 which was the original inspiration for World Voice, we can say that the programme is returning home. The British Council is delighted that the initiative’s important cultural relations legacy will continue to flourish under Sing Up.” To find out more about the Sing Up Foundation and World Voice and to access the evaluation, the teaching handbook and some of the teaching materials, visit www.singupfoundation.org/worldvoice EDITOR'S NOTES: March 2020 marked the end of the British Council’s World Voice Programme after seven years in 23 countries. The programme, which trains teachers to use singing to develop musicality and as a tool for learning in the classroom, operated in partnership with governments, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), United Nations (UN) agencies, arts organisations, headteachers and schools. It reached over 1.5 million children and trained over 18,000 teachers. The World Voice methodology was developed by Artistic Director, Richard Frostick, which enabled a flexible programme of singing training that could be applied to a wide variety of contexts and trainees of all levels, and adapted to support a range of outcomes for children, including language learning, fostering a sense of community in refugee camps, using the content of songs to teach all aspects of the curriculum, and as a tool for positive behaviour management, or to build confidence and self-esteem. The programme was underpinned by World Voice resources, including the online World Voice Songbook and the World Voice Teachers Handbook. The Handbook and a selection of these songs and resources are now available at www.singupfoundation.org/worldvoice Sing Up is an award-winning organisation that began as a government funded programme to reinstate singing in primary schools in 2007. It was a very successful programme, reaching 98% of primary schools by 2012. Since 2012, when the funding stopped, the organisation has sustained itself entirely through earned income from schools’ membership subscriptions and the continued loyalty and investment from schools is a sign of the value they place on singing and on the work of Sing Up. Sing Up provides resources, training and guidance to support schools and believes that all children and young people have a right to good quality singing provision, to deepen their understanding of music and singing, raise attainment and develop lasting tools to express themselves with confidence and creativity. With ten years of experience at the forefront of music education, Sing Up’s specially arranged songs, teaching tools and support put singing at the heart of learning. Sing Up has always been a champion of the wider benefits of singing – for education, social and health outcomes – and marked its 10th birthday in 2017 by launching the Sing Up Foundation, a new charity with a commitment to a new charitable purpose supporting singing for health and wellbeing. The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We build connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language. In 2019-2020 we reached over 75 million people directly and 758 million people overall including online, broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive a 14.5 per cent core funding grant from the UK government. www.britishcouncil.org For further information, please contact Celi: info@singupfoundation.org Website: singupfoundation.org Twitter: @SingUpFndation