Youth Music Grant supporting Music in Health Programme
OP
US is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a grant of £113,080 from Youth Music to support the development of its music in health programme. This grant ensures that OPUS will be able to continue its residency at Derbyshire Children’s Hospital for a further two years from May 2012, along with new 18 month residencies in children’s wards at Leicester Royal Infirmary, Queens Medical Centre Nottingham and Kings Mill Hospital in Sutton in Ashfield from September 2012. OPUS musicians will be visiting the hospitals on a weekly basis, making music with young patients, their visitors and hospital staff on wards, in waiting areas and at the bedside. Alongside this, OPUS will be delivering training for healthcare staff, enabling them to work alongside OPUS musicians, and to continue practice outside of OPUS’ visits. OPUS will also be delivering 5-day training courses for musicians wishing to work in healthcare settings. Courses will take place in October 2012, and again in April and October 2013. Finally, OPUS is already working hard through this grant funding to build a strong evidence base of the impacts upon health and wellbeing, sharing research and practice and working with numerous partners to explore the long-term sustainability of this practice. OPUS plans to launch a music and health website later in the year, and to host a national music and health seminar in 2013. Watch this space …………..! We are incredibly grateful to Youth Music, along with our partner hospitals and other funders and supporters for making this programme of work possible.
OPUS musicians have been involved in a year-long project, supporting the development of music and story-making for early years children and their families in library settings across Derbyshire. The project was hugely successful, with many libraries continuing to deliver practice beyond the project. The project was managed and supported by Derbyshire County Council with funding from Youth Music. The full evalution report has now been published. 
OPUS musicians are all highly trained for music and health practice by internationally renowned leaders in this field, Musique & Santé. Nick Cutts has previously trained alongside a European team of musicians in Manchester, Paris, Krakow and Dublin under the guidance of Musique & Sante trainers. In December 2010, Marianne Clarac, a trainer and musician from Musique & Santé visited Derby for a week to deliver training to all OPUS musicians along with others from the region. Nick is now training again in Manchester and Paris with Musique & Santé as part of a European ‘Train the Trainer’ programme. Nick and OPUS colleagues are currently delivering training to musicians and healthcare staff from across the UK using approaches developed by Musique & Santé over many years.
