OPUS Music CIC Wins Community Partner of the Year at Sherwood Forest Hospitals’ Celebrating Excellence Awards

We are absolutely delighted to share that OPUS Music CIC has been awarded Community Partner of the Year at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Celebrating Excellence Awards!

This recognition shines a spotlight on the power of collaboration between the Arts and Health sectors and the difference that music can make within hospital environments.

A Truly Musical Hospital

Over the past 18 months, our partnership with Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has extended far beyond our regular practice as Healthcare Musicians on the wards and in critical care units. Together, we have embarked on a co-designed journey towards creating a truly Musical Hospital.

This has included:

• Staff training in the use of music within day-to-day care practices.

• Community engagement through music-making opportunities for patients, families, and staff.

• Staff wellbeing initiatives, using music to support joy, connection, and positive energy in the workplace.

Nick Cutts, CEO, reflects:

“Partnerships such as this highlight the huge potential of mutual collaboration between the Arts and Health sectors, bringing innovative, creative and highly impactful approaches to holistic, compassionate care.

We’re extremely grateful to Sherwood Forest Hospitals for their vision in taking this journey with us, and for being a wonderful, collaborative partner.”

Music at the Heart of Care

Thanks to the support of NHS Charities Together, we have been able to deepen this partnership and bring more music into the hospital. Our Healthcare Musicians have taken music into wards, fostered opportunities for music-making with patients, families, and staff, and co-created meaningful moments of care through song and sound.

We are particularly excited about the launch of a brand-new Singing for Wellbeing group, running on Fridays for staff and volunteers. This is a space to gather, lift voices, celebrate togetherness, and make a joyful noise that nurtures health and wellbeing.

Looking Ahead

Receiving this award is a wonderful recognition of what can be achieved when arts and health organisations come together with shared purpose.

We look forward to continuing our work with Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, embedding music more deeply into healthcare and championing its role in building compassion, connection, and wellbeing.

To everyone at Sherwood Forest Hospitals, and to the staff, patients, families, and communities who make this partnership so special – thank you. This award belongs to us all.