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.
