MUSIC IN OUR )frdE$ SING maes yo smile! rity ￿116$5￿ Music In Our Bones Trustees Annual Re ort st 1 Janua 2021 to 31" December 2021 Reference and administration details Cha Name and R istered Cha Number: MUS￿ In Our Bones 1166578 Chari rinci le address and contact: Tracy Sharp 203 Ranewh Road. Ipswich IP2 OAH Names of Chari Trustees who mana e the chari lan Heywood { Chairperson. cheque signatory. Health and Safety officer ) Elizabeth Gerrie { Secretary, cheque sunatory I lan Flower l T￿asurer I Oliver Knowland Pamela Wagstaff I Compliments and Complaints officer > Allan Williams Judith Goldsmith { Safeguarding Officer ) Adrian Stannard-smrth joined November 2020 Structure Governance and Mana ement Music In Our Bone5 Is a Charitable Incorporated Organisatson ICIO} with a foundation model constitution 2. If a new trustee Is needed, gaps in eXpe￿'Se and expeiience are discussed at a Iruslee meeting and people known lo the team are approached based on that discussion and prK)r professional and personal knowledge. Initial meetings with eO•founders of Music In Our Bones a￿ held lo explore the role and the suitsbilty of the post. If the post is suitable and the person approached able to meet the charity's needs the post of Irustee is offered and accepted al this point. Access to Communty ACt￿n Suffolk's Trustee training is offered if needed. 3. Four trustee meetings are held annually, one of whth is Ihe AGM. Decisions, if needed, can be agreed via email rf a truslee Is unable to attend. 4. Our Chairperson. lan Heywc4)d, is the named person able to deal with any major Health and Safety concems. LE Gerrie is our Secretary, Judith Goldsmtth is our Safeguarding Officer and Pam Wagstaff deals wrth any Compliments or Complaints. Our Treasurer. lan Flower. a retired accountant. ¢hecks all financial management issues and provides interim management reports at each meeting Adnan Stsnnard-smith settled into his role as trustee this year, managing all the charity's cash handling, recording and banking on a voluntary basis. 5. As Music In Our Bones has no offices. debts. or outgoings other than workshop delivery, there are few financial risks as if funding was insufficient. workshops would stop 6. Music In Our Bones acLounts are independently inspected by Accountants John Phillips and Co Ltd, Unit 81, Centaur CourL Claydon Business Park. Great Blakenham. Ipswich IP6 ONL Summa document of the ob'ects of the chari set out in its overnin To advance the edueatlon of amateur slftge￿. primarily in Suffolk. of all abilities by offering an opportunlty for anyone to sing with others. without an audition or fomier experience of ehoral singing. in particular but not oxclusively, for Famlly Carers and fof those with a disability. Summa of main activities undertaken for the relation to those ob'ects ublic benefit in 94 face to face singing sessions during the year created re ular singing opportunities and the support that our singing communities offer to a totsl of 173 individuals. ( Pre-pandemic Jan- Mar 2020 we reached 203 people so we have successfully retained or made new contact with 87% of our singers ) 39 zooms offered additional singing support to our singing communities, especlally during periods of lockdown or limited face to face opportunities. We also supported Inside Out Arts Community wlth 3 termly zoom sings for people in recovery from serious mental health distress and in-patlent stays reaching a further 18 individuals and Suffolk Refugee Support's Intemational Women's Group with 3 temily sings reaching 15 more. Total individuals benefittlng from 100 singing sessions ( regular sessions plu8 outreach ) = 206 Total new singers attracted to our regular groups = 46 (30 face to face, 16 vla zoom Our new website This was launched in April thanks to the dedication and talent of our administrative supporL Janine Tompkins h llmuslcinourbones.coml It includes a new gallery h 1lmusiclnourbones.coml alleriesl Research and feedback from our singers . htt :Ilmusicinourbones.comlbenefits-of-sin in And our legacy of sings anyone on-line can sing along with whenever they need a sing with usl htt .'Ilmusicinourbones.comlmusic-videosl Janua toA ril 2021 During an initial period of lod(down we replaced 'live' singing sessions with: 10 half temily zooms. 2 You Tube films ( sent out to 250 househokls ) and 5 fortnightly CDS ( sent out to 140+ singers ) Our telephone support network continued to be hugely valued by those were lonely, anxious, isolated or facing crises. Trying to offer our singers a sense of purpose and meaningful involvement with us, requested photos to create film montages against which songs were set. Lyrics were also requested and new songs written and recorded to honour and share our singers talents. Following our singers expressed concerns, vrfe realised we needed to plan a safe staged way forward in order to rebuild shattered confidence and overcome very real anxiety about mixing with anyone other than family. roach back to face to face sin in Asta eda Government ￿strIctl0nS and high Covid infection rates meant that our face to fa singing initially had to be outdoor from April to July. Our staged approach, (through too much wind and rainl)included". 1. Firstl doorste sin 30 doorstep vlslts reached 36 of our most isolated singers, many living alone and without good family support. others managing challenging caring roles, many without the internet 2. Then, small rou sin sof6 3. Next lar confidence built. er sin s in larger yet still 'private' community spaces as 22 garden slngs reached 181 ( many under umbrellas!) Our singers generously offered their gardens for small gatherings and we used local 'private' spa￿$ like the Brickmakers wood and Chantry Park walled garden for our larger July sings. During AprIl￿UlY we reached 127 individuals in song. Our outdoor sings were attended by 201 slngers, several accessing more than one evenL TWO NEW ON-LINE GROUPS LAUNCHED IN 2021 1. Sin in for the Brain Fortnightly singing for the brain zooms were piloted from April, following training from the Alzheimers society attended by Mark Cobum, Jill Jennings and Tracy Sharp, finding and sharing favourite popular songs alongside the teaching of songs easily taught. Initially these We￿ focussed on reaching out to Family carers and their partners living with dementia allowng us to 'seed' a new Musical Memories group in Bury and better support Family Carers with challenging roles. However, they have proved to be popular and are now accessed by a wide range of our singers, some singers unable to leave their homes now due to their disabilities or health vulnerabilities as V￿11 as Family Carers keen to have an extra sing alongside their partners at home. Others dip in and out rfthe weather is bad, or rf they are recovering from Covid or post operats'vely and stuck at home for any reason. Individuals reached . 40 Average group size ". 10 New to Music In Our Bones.. 15 2. Son fli Songflight is a singing project run by Jennie Fisk and Tracy Sharp. It offers a monthly zoom sing focussing on calming anxiety and extending the breath using a variety of chanting, sounding, and gentle songs to achieve this. It is hoped that the ￿SsIonS will prove especially useful for anyone with COPD, Long Covid or those trying to manage high levels of anxiety post covid. Zoom also banishes se￿-ConScIouSnesS and allows people to really experiment with their voices and to sing out in the privacy of their own homes.. "Thank you for our lovely session together this afternoon. l enjoyed it so much more, being on mute; less embarrassing for myself and more comfortable to the ears of others.... Individuals reached .' 18 Average group size . 12 New to Music In Our Bones: 1 WELLSPRING CLOSED JULY 2021 Having never closed a group before, we were sad to have to close Wellspring which was started in 2013. It seems however highly likely that the Covid epidemic will continue, possibly for years, to prevent such a project being advisable. Sadly, it will be some time before large groups of people from the community are encouraged to sing alongside very vulnerable elderly people in a tightly packed unventilated and very warm shared lounge. Having sung twi￿ outside Margery Girling House during the pandemic, y￿ returned in July to bid them all farewell with a leaving garden party, residents singing and waving from inside the lounge, our community volunteers leading the singing from outside. Trays of cakes and cups of tea were shared with both. It was a very sad goodbye, both to communty members, Margery Giding residents and to Trish Bessell as their much loved song leader. Wellspring was a project which forged some beautiful relationships and brought us into contact with a wonderful group of older people willing to share their rich lives with us as they joined us in song. Se t￿eC We had a total of 623 attendees (450 fa￿ to face indoors, 183 via zoom ) 42 face to face sessions indoors were run (42 face to face indoors plus 17 Singing for the Brain zooms April -Dec and 2 Songflight zooms Nov - Dec ) These reached 173 individuals (158 fa￿ to face indoors, 16 newcomers via zoom) 21 of these individuals hadlhave zoom contact only, plus 9 telephone Itxt contact only Throu hout the ear 1740 CDS rox. were sent out 12 CDS wrth repla￿ment singing sessions were sent out fortnightly Jan - De¢ 2021. These went to 145+ households. These were recorded by singing Seaders, edited and produced by a singing leader and then packaged and posted by our amazing volunteer Donna Thrower. They lifted spirits and made a drfference! "Many thanks for the last 'Best of. ' CD. I have just sung my way through rt viith you- never mind what the neighbours thought. As usual you lifted my mood, and now I'm ready to tackle all that comes my way! I'm gonna play that CD again now , louder this time-and I might dance too! Thanks again." "X has his computer set up in the kitchen and when your cd comes through the door he is straight on that computer singing along. He finds it more dtfficult when he can't see your lips to follow but he tries and keeps trying., You tube videos were filmed or created as rep1a￿rnent sings by Frankie Fisk and sent out in 2021. These have had between 150-550 views l. Photo montage for 'Hold you in our circle, outube.comlwatch?v=IMMz ZCib9U 2. Photo montage for What a wonderful world. outube.comlwatch?v=n-z3bZx 3. Helmingham Hall Spring visit- April 2021 htt s.IIMvw. outube comlwatch?v-81hO kslGC8 4. Celebration of doorstep visits - May 2021 htt s Ilwww. outube.comlwatch?v-tUX4-H871 5. Garden sings- July 2021 outube.comlwatch?r7nL-C2LE1 OE 6. Helmingham Hall summer visit in the rain September 2021 htt s.IIvMw. outube.comlwatch?v-E1'09G dzno Throughout the pandemic, our aim has been to continue to offer a rich musical life- line to all we sing with albert in different ways. Feedback from our singers suggests that these efforts have played a significant role in their mental well-being at a time of extraordinary isolation for so many. My life is restricted, l am dedicated to caring for my bek)ved wrfe who is sadly in the final stages of Dementia and MS. I have no other excrtement orjoy in my lrfe, save for the wonderful grft of song. You travel all over Suffolk, bringing singing to we isolated carers. You have given us the opportunity to sing via Zoom too during the dark times, these sings are the glimmering light that casts such a spell on we lonely people. I honestly can't imagine lrfe wtthout Music In Our Bones. OUR SINGING LEADER TEAM None of the above could have been achieved without the astonishing level of commitment , flexibility and talents shown by our singing leader team. Our team worked incredibly hard throughout the year, in an inspiringly responsive and imaginative way, ensuring that our singers continued to know they mattered and that spirits continued to be lifted in song. Mark Cobum worked tirelessly to edit and produce 145+ lovely CDS fortnightly through much of the year, and Frankie Fisk's film-making creativity helped create a beautiful legacy of our singing year via our new You Tube channel. The work and talent of both were hugely appreciated by so many of our singers. TRISH BESSELL RETIRED JULY 2021 We were sad to bid farewell to Trish Bessell who retired in July after over a decade of wonderful leadership. sharing Musical Memories and Wellspring groups, both of which included some of the most frail and vulnerable of all our singers. Her joie de vivre and abilty to whip up a party atmosphere, as well as her ability to tell and encourage stories and to showcase our singers talents will be much missed. NEW SINGING LEADER JOINED TEAPII - JILL JENNINGS APRIL 2021 We are lucky to have found Jill Jennings as a new member of the team. Jill brings with her huge expertise as a lalented musician, confident with several instruments, as w￿11 as a lrfe time of teathing and singing with children in schools and more re￿nt experience alongside Mark leading singing with groups for older people. She joins Mark Coburn. Jennie Fisk. Fran Flower, lan Heywood, Helen Rolfe. Denise Steward and Tracy sha￿ - a fine and hugely supportive singing leader team. VOLUNTEERS Our dedicated teams of volunteers with Musical Memories and Songlines have offered astonishing support throughout the year to other members of their groups. Some have telephoned weekly throughout the year and had hour long conversations with Family Carers and Stroke suNivors who V￿re tremendously cut off from the world by the pandemic. Many have filled their cars whenever small group singing became possible and encouraged people wrthout transport and with limited mobility to refind the confidence to come out again to join us. Friendships and peer support within groups has been deepened immeasurably because of people's need of one another and appreciation of generosity, kindness and contact during such lonely times. Many now meet regularly outside of their sings, some go walking together, others are offering practical help to others in need. many talk regularly. Wonderful new circles of support have emerged. Donna Thrower offered the charity a remarkable number of hours of time patiently sending out 145+ CDS fortnightly through much of the year. We were pleased to thank her at Bury Heartsong this April 2022 with the presentation of a gift from us all to show our huge gratitude to her and to marf( her special contribution in keeping our singing community connected throughout the pandemic OUR GROUPS The followin rou are details of how man individuals have retumed to their face to fa Lifting Spirits run by Fran Flower, Jennie Fisk and Tracy Sharp fortnightly ( The group due its size has been spltt into two, each group meets monthly now atthough we prioritise singers who have expressed the need for more frequent contact and they attend both sessions a month. Now moved to Castle Hill Primary School- a more spacious venue) Individuals returned . 28 Average group size 13 New to the group . 2. Garden sings with Lifting Spirits Ipswich Heartsong run by Jennie Fisk and Tracy Sharp once monthly (now moved to Rushmere Village Hall - a more spacious venue > 'It was SO lovely to see you and the Heartsong gang on Friday in Rosalyn's lovely garden, desprte the rain. A big thank you for all your efft)rts to keep us singing, smiling and laughing." Individuals retumed .' 22 Average group size . 11 New to the group '. 4 Bury Heartsong singers run by Jennie Fisk and Tracy Sharp until July when Denise Steward joined Tracy to lead the group once monthly ( now moved to the Bury Quaker meeting house wrth the changed time of Thursday mornings) Individuals returned 21 Average group size.. 9 New to the group '. 5 l am so glad I made it to Gill's beautiful garden for such a very happy aftemoon. Boy you bring so much joy and fvn. It was also so good apart from the singing, to hear X expressing what she has to manage. she is so young and I think brave.. Lowestoft Heartsong run by Helen Rolfe and Tracy Sharp once monthly Individuals ieturned . 27 Average group size . 15 New to the group 4 Music In Mind run by Fran Flower. Jennie Fisk, lan Heywood and Tracy Individuals returned . 31 A￿erage group size 11 New to the group . 6 Songlines run by Mark Cobum and Tracy Sharp fortnightly. Denise Steward also supported the group wrth some fa￿ to face gatherings until September when she started leading the new Bury Heartsong group. Individuals returned = 14 Average group size '. 9 New to the group.. 4 Muslcal memories Ipswich run by Mark Cobum and Tracy Sharp fortnightly ( now moved to Rushmere Village Hall) Individuals retumed .' 25 Average group size . 11 New to the group . 9 (4 of these Suffolk Communty Foundation visitors) .*b Pjlusical Memories Bury new group run by Mark Cobum and Tracy Sharp fortnightly Sin￿ November ( meets in the spacious Moreton Hall Communrty Centre ) Individuals reached . 13 Average group size '. 8 New lo Music In Our Bones". 6 Disa ointments and Challen 1. Outreach Outreach has unfortunately been on hold throughout this period as it has been unsafe to encourage singing indoors in large groups. Our temily zoom sings with Inside Out and Suffolk Refugee Support have been all the outreach possible in 2021. Face to face outreach will hopefully resume rf infection rates do finally fall. Bookings are in the diary to sing in support groups for Family Carers. Stroke survivors and those living wrth dementia in the summer months of 2022. 2. Partnershi work Our focus has been less oulward looking than we would have liked as we have had to concentrate our time and energies in maintaining good contact with our singers and suNiving as a chanty financially. Managing the many transitions of the period together has also taken up all our energy and time resources. We have however, developed a temly briefing for professionals which we will use to advertise pla￿S once rt is possible to begin to increase group sizes safely once more. We also sent of links of our You Tube sings to organisations we work closely with.. Dementia Together Suffolk Family Carers Inside Out Community Suffolk Refugee Support's What's App connection with their International Women's Group"Thank you so much for leading sessions online with the Women's Group on the 24th November. The teachers and the women really enjoyed it. It is so nice to be able to provide them with some variety." Margery Girling House Very Sheltered Housing used our CDS to encourage sing alongs with residents now able to socialise with each other though not other Ihan 1-1 with family Memory Lane Dementia Café's members via an emailed newsletter Community singing groups SongRise and Yoxvox 3. Makin difficult decisions to minimise covid risks for rou We have halved the group size of our biggest groups Music In Mind and Lrfting Spirits by offering monthly sessions to two groups. Those with most need of the group due to living with Can￿r, managing more severe mental health recovery from psychiatric stays during the pandemic, in recovery from a brain injury or those especially lonely and isolated have been offered spa￿6 in both fortnightly sessions. We hope On￿ infection rates have dropped to bring these half groups back together once more providing rt is safe to do so. 4. Closin rou Wells inBu rin sin in St Edmunds. in order to o n a second Musical Memories The difficult decision lo close the Wellspnng project was made for the reasons stated above. This gave us the capacity to create a new group for Famity Carers and people living with dementia in Bury where there is no such group having 'met' some new Family Carers and their partners via our Singing for the brain zoom pilot.. S. Difficulties rowin rou that have lost members durin the andemic With outreach taster sings not being possible, and the Dementia Together service losing its tender ( meaning that usually very active workers have had to concentrate on closing the project), it has been drfficult to recruit new couples to both dementia specific groups and to the Bury Heartsong, our Smal￿St group. Hopefully once we can begin again to sing with support groups this situation will improve. Active outreach has always proved essential to our development as so many people avoid singing thinking their voices aren't good enough and need to be convinced by experien￿ other4vise! 6. Co in with rief and loss Unsurprisingly, this has played an unusually large part of our work during the year. Some singers have died during the pandemic and others will not be able to return as their disability has increased, still more are now being cared for at home or in nursing care. Some of our work has been supporting singers and families during these critical times as they have been so isolated and wrthout the support usually available. We have helped individuals and families with these losses in different ways.. through phone and post contact sending cards from people's group signposting '. in one case supporting a family carer using the safeguarding procedures to get the help he desperately needed and a move for his wife with advanced and challenging dementia into a nursing home Responding to family requests to honour the significance of singing wth us in the lives of their loved ones .' in one case attending a very small funeral, in another singing with group members at a memorial ￿lebratIon alongside a few singers from her group supporting those offering peer support to others at these difficult limes Some successes this ear 1. A mix of short and longer temi bids has been successfully secured to enable groups to be sustained and developed. 2. TrLJStees, singing leader team and regular volunteers have been supported to maximise our energy. sense of purpose and commitment to our group members. Consulting and communicating well throughout suth a period of change has been vital. 3. The challenges of reengaging our fonner singers in a staged safe way back to their singing communities has been largely successful. However, due to the pandemic, we have lost singers. some still too anxious to retum to groups, others now too disabled to come out. Therefore outreach will play an important role in the year ahead. 4. A new Family Carers and dementia specific singing community has been established in Bury {using zoom pilots.) 5. Two new regular zoom sessions have been piloted and now added to our regular 'offer'. These are sustaining people who are especially isolated, new to us, or perhaps ill or simply in the need of additional sing and contact with a friendly community of singers. 6. Feedback from our singers has been especially strong and heartfelt over this difficult year. It a￿ayS reveals that f￿ling part of one of our singing communities allows people, otherwise isolated by illness and disabilty and often lonely, to experience a meaningful sense of ac￿ptanCe, connection and purpose that they find rare in Itfe. This was sent after a Singing for the brain zoom. 'After singing I realise how light and happy I'm feeling. like I've got fresh oxygen in my lungs, happiness in my smile. I can tsckle anything with a lrft from singing with you all. Thanks you are true lrfe Itfters. You lift my spirrts and refresh my memory. The hamionies balanc£ my heartbeat. You make me feel loved. Its mentally invaluable work you do. Without your constant help I couldn't have got through these last few years on my own. Even when I have dIff￿ult days, I have you all lo look forward to. giving me a reason to carry on.. The communal act of creating music together creates unusually strong bonds between people overcoming shyness and a host of other communication problems. Regular involvement in the project also has helped very vulnerable people to avoid crises. We had to use the Safeguarding procedures in one instsnce last year to prevent complete carer breakdown for instan￿. Singing regularly offers much valued support to those with drfficutt caring roles helping those to be sustained , '1 want to say a huge heartfelt thank you for everything that you have both done to keep our spirits up and ticking over in joy and love and song during what has been my worse personal year ever. Your CDS. messages, YouTube brts, garden sings and once bad< in the church have been great. Such kindness. and keeping the singing alive.. Most importantly, singing wtth Music In Our Bones has offered a fortnightly life- enhancing boost to people's spirits. As we know, singing literally changes how people feel.. releasing endorphins so filling singers wrth a sense of happiness, lowering cortisol levels so reducing stress, deepening breathing and synchronising heart rates so calming anxiety, encouraging gentle movement and dance so helping with mobility and reducing pain levels. Our choice of songs has been especially important during these toughest of times. The songs we choose. often from drfferent cultures and limes, have a history and a belief that change for the better is possible. The energy and lfft of singing with others often moves people to feel freer, to laugh and smile more easily and sometimes to cry and acknowledge the sadness and grief they are carying knowing that it is a the safe space to do so. Songs carrying a belief that change is on the way, and that we must never lose sight of hope, have been especially valued this year. and more recently being able to raise our Vol￿ and to share songs of pea￿ as war rages In the Ukraine has been a signfficant act for many when everyone has been f￿ling so helpless. 8.Peer support within groups and volunteer singing support alongside us has been vital to maximise our impact as a charity, as outlined, our volunteers have been vitally important in maintaining our communities sense of togetherness. g. Long and short-tenn benefrts of singing wrth others has been captured from our singers frequent and positive feedback. We aim in the year ahead, now that groups are beginning to retum, to focus on researching singing's benefits alongside our group members, encouraging them to have a growing understanding of what singing offers them and what Ihey offer others in the singing. Agreed by trustees at AGM May 2022 Signature.......- lan Heywood Chair Signature... .Date..... lan Flower Treasurer **----- Start of picture text -----**
MUSIC IN OUR BONES
Income & Expenditure Year to 31st December 2021 Year to 31st December 2020
Restricted Unrestricted Restricted Unrestricted
Total Total
Funds Funds Funds Funds
Income
Funding from Other Charities £47,471 £47,471 £29,221 £29,221
Voluntary Donations £5,603 £5,603 £3,982 £3,982
Total Income £47,471 £5,603 £53,075 £29,221 £3,982 £33,203
Expenditure
Costs of Running Workshops £33,718 £2,862 £36,581 £29,975 £1,851 £31,827
Governance & Development £2,246 £2,246 £4,334 £4,334
Total Expenditure £33,718 £5,109 £38,828 £29,975 £6,185 £36,161
Surplus/(Deficit) for Year £13,752 £494 £14,247 (£754) (£2,204) (£2,958)
Reserves
Brought Forward £16,196 £12,554 £28,751 £16,950 £14,757 £31,708
Surplus/(Deficit) for Year £13,752 £494 £14,247 (£754) (£2,204) (£2,958)
Carried Forward £29,949 £13,048 £42,998 £16,196 £12,554 £28,751
Represented by:
Current Assets
Bank & Cash Balances £43,538 £29,901
Income Accruals
Cost Prepayments
Total Bank & Cash Balances £43,538 £29,901
Current Liabilities
Cost Accruals £540 £1,150
Total Liabilities £540 £1,150
Net Current Assets £42,998 £28,751
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