90Minutemusic

We began our journey from a point of adversity. In 2013, after witnessing a family member suffer significant trauma, we decided to look at ways in which we could use our experience, to help young people in difficult and challenging situations. We began by volunteering, I (Simon) volunteered for the youth service where I worked with young people on referrals from Childrens Services for a year. Louise began by training to be a breastfeeding peer support worker and through this met inspirational healthcare professionals, who signposted her to further training. Now a qualified R.N. and holding a BSc Honours degree she has fulfilled her ambition. As modern nursing adopts a more holistic approach, we began to draw on this knowledge to provide a more valuable service to the young people we work with. We began to study experts in neuroscience who had a particular interest in music like Dr Wendy Mcghee, and Dr Ani Patel, as well as studying the strengths and weaknesses of using technology to support our sessions. We found that Music in general is a powerful and versatile way of supporting young people with not only their development of essential skills, like listening and team work, but over the years, we have recognised a particular advantage when supporting young people who may have become disengaged with education, or have Specific Learning Difficulties. We have a strong philosophy that health and education go hand in hand and we are proud to harness music and technology to share that message, something which is unique to us, that could not have happened without facing our challenges and informing our own personal development.