The atrium at The Alex saw another performance by two fantastic musicians last week.
The performance was organised by our Wellbeing Service in conjunction with Wishing Well Music for Health, and forms part of a live music programme that will be taking place every month at The Alex.
Our Wellbeing Service aims to provide a range of activities to help young patient’s mental health and wellbeing while they are visiting or staying in the hospital.
The manager of the service, Jess Linton, explained more about the event. She said, “We’ve been working over the last few months with the wellbeing service steering group, which consists of people within the hospital and Rockinghorse, to think about what we could be doing more of.
“Something that came up fairly early on was the idea of having live music and other creative interventions within the hospital, that support children, young people and families to feel calm and relaxed during their appointments and treatments.
“We are so glad to work with Wishing Well to expand their work, they bring a huge amount if knowledge and experience already around working here in the hospital.”
Wishing Well have been working on the wards of The Alex for many years, providing music for children at their bedsides as a way of bringing joy, fun and relaxation. They are a great network of musicians who play lots of different instruments from all around the world.
This session saw saxophonist Lee and pianist Dee creating some improvised music for the waiting area of Level 5 Outpatients.
During their performance children, parents, staff and visitors were able to enjoy the relaxing sounds from throughout the hospital, thanks to the fantastic acoustics that the building possesses.
Jess has also seen some really positive results from these performances. She said, “It’s been really good to see not only people in the waiting room benefit, but the children coming down from the wards, maybe young people that have been here for quite a while and they’re finding that they’re a bit stuck and there isn’t much for them to do.
“We’ve also received some great feedback from families coming for their appointments with parents saying how it’s really nice to see my child relax while they’re waiting for an appointment. Sometimes they’re having to be called in twice because they’re getting so absorbed in the music which great, having been fairly anxious when they arrived.”
Jo White, CEO and founder of Wishing Well Music for Health, was at the performance and said, “What I like about Lee and Dee’s music is improvised, so they will play in response to who’s around, who’s listening, and how the hospital feels.
“All of the artists have been chosen because they’re not only brilliant performers and brilliant musicians, but they understand the importance of sensitivity in the hospital playing with the soundscape rather than just performing set pieces.”
“What we’ve seen from working here, on the hospital wards for the past 13 years, is the vital role music plays in children and young people’s lives. When we’re in a place that can be quite upsetting or making us feel a little bit anxious, having something that distracts from those negative feelings and gives us a positive experience, and a positive memory, is really important.”
“I also love the fact that we’re now bringing music into this public space. So, people who’ve never heard, or who don’t get to hear the music that’s on the wards will get to hear it, including staff.”
Laura Barker, a play worker from the Play Team at The Alex, works in the Outpatient’s department and really enjoyed hearing the musicians, “The music is very relaxing, and it’s so nice for patients to come down and escape from what’s happening around them, to come and listen to some relaxing live music. It’s very lovely for everyone to hear.”
We’ll be publishing information about the upcoming performances on our website and at the hospital, so keep an eye out for the next one.
