LIVE MUSIC NOW ANNUAL REPORT
2020-2021
LIVE MUSIC NOW LTD (LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) CHARITY NO. 273596 | COMPANY NO. 1312283
ANNUAL REPORT
LIVE MUSIC NOW
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Message from the Chair of Trustees .........3 Navigating the Pandemic ................................5 Why Music is Participatory ............................. 8
IMPACT
Live Music Now Online ..................11 Children & Young People ........... 13 Adult Social Care ..............................20 Our Musicians .................................... 27 Diversity & Inclusion ......................34 Looking forward ................................35
BRANCHES
FUNDING & FINANCE
England North East ............38 Funding and Fundraising .............. 53 England North West ......... 40 Introduction to the Accounts ...... 55 England South West .........42 Trustees Annual Report ................... 57 England South East ...........44 Northern Ireland ...................46 Wales ..............................................48
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INTRODUCTION
Message from the Chair of Trustees .........................3 Navigating the Pandemic ................................................5 Why Music is Participatory ..............................................8
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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF TRUSTEES
Sir Vernon Ellis
2020 was for Live Music Now – as it was for so many of our partners and participants – a very testing year. The COVID-19 pandemic struck at the very core of our work. It forced us to re-evaluate the meaning of ‘live’ and our role in the communities we serve.
When Yehudi Menuhin and Sir Ian Stoutzker first created Live Music Now their vision was to bring live music to people who needed it the most, but who had the least opportunity to access it, whilst also supporting young professional musicians at the start of their careers. How then, could Live Music Now continue to make that a reality in the midst of a pandemic, and support so many of our partners and settings who were working on the frontlines?
participants. I am enormously proud of the team for their accomplishments in those days of frantic re-skilling and reshaping our work, alongside managing demanding personal and family commitments.
Reflecting on that work now, we are all immensely glad that we were able to support our communities during that time. The impact of COVID-19 was profoundly felt by some of our most-exposed participants in hospitals, care homes, special schools and at home across the UK. We know that for many, the opportunity to partake in a music session once a week was an emotional lifeline during truly traumatic times. It also enabled us to keep employing and
Within 17 days of the first lockdown being announced in March 2020, our team pivoted our operations and developed new ways of working. They researched, devised and started delivering a whole range of programmes for all of our key
supporting the 227 musicians who stood to lose their livelihoods overnight.
There was much to be learned this year as well. Going digital gave us the opportunity to open up and engage with people who previously knew nothing about our work. Live Music Now sessions usually take place behind closed doors across schools, hospitals, care homes and hospices reaching on average 85,000 children and older people each year. Now, through YouTube and other streaming platforms, our work is available to everyone.
Our central challenge was to understand how our personalised approach (which depends so much on audiences engaging and participating in the moment) could translate online. To do this we consulted with hundreds of musicians, care homes, schools, academic and sector experts around the UK – through surveys, phone and video calls – to understand their needs. We worked with an external technology consultant to bring it all together and found new expertise and skills within our own team. Our musicians enthusiastically shared their knowledge and technical skills with us and with each other, while providing engaging interactive sessions from their own homes direct to care homes, schools or families at home.
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“At this time of challenge, isolation and crisis in care homes, there is more value than ever in bringing the very best live music performances from experienced, highlytalented, professional musicians to the people who live and work in care homes, offering entertainment, relief and connection with the outside world via the use of digital technology.”
Liz Jones, Policy Director National Care Forum
mental health crisis for older people, young people, families with children with additional needs, and their workforces. They all speak to the very urgent need and great demand for human connection through the arts.
We also discovered barriers to receiving music sessions online, which are nuanced and varied. They ranged from poor internet connections or lack of equipment and expertise, to a contentoverload that was not specific enough to serve their needs. There is, we discovered, no onesize-fits-all. Working alongside our settings, we developed solutions and ways round the barriers, including outdoor performances, to DVDs delivered by post, to a searchable library of recorded resources. We learned so much this year that we will carry forward to better serve and connect with our participants.
I hope you’ll enjoy reading more about the impact of our work here.
We welcomed Janet Fischer this year to the newly created role of Chief Executive. Her insight, sector knowledge, energy and passion for our work is invaluable as we seek to increase our impact to ensure that more people can access live music’s power to change lives. Great thanks to Nina Swann for doing such an excellent job as acting Executive Director throughout the pandemic, ensuring that our freelance musicians were supported and that
This pandemic has highlighted the very real gaps in services for many of the people we serve. The healthcare, Adult Social Care and education sectors tell us that social isolation and the impact of the pandemic is creating a
our work continued despite the complexities posed during these challenging times.
2020 was a very difficult year, but in many ways an extremely important one. We are more connected than ever before with our communities, partners, and musicians. The team proved its ability to step up and deliver moments of solace, inspiration, and joy in very dark times, and we have learned much that we will carry forward with us. Most importantly, we kept music live.
Sir Vernon Ellis Chair of the Board of Trustees, Live Music Now
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NAVIGATING THE PANDEMIC
Live Music Now CEO Janet Fischer and Executive Director Nina Swann
In a year of intense change and challenges, CEO Janet Fischer and Executive Director Nina Swann recall the highs and lows of 2020.
sessions cancelled in a matter of hours. We were very worried about the impact on our musicians. So one of the first things that we did was arrange for musicians to be paid for their cancelled sessions, while the Trustees pulled together a special hardship fund. We continued to make discretionary grants throughout the pandemic for musicians who couldn’t access other finance and were facing dire straits.
Nina: Wow. Where to start? 2020. It was a big year.
Janet: It was. When I joined in January 2021, I was amazed by the work that the team had achieved in the previous 9 months. It seemed miraculous that within 17 days of the first lockdown the whole Live Music Now operation had pivoted from solely delivering ‘in person’ music events to becoming a completely digital operation, still offering live music activities but in completely different ways. It’s a huge achievement to turn a whole organisation – including 250 freelance musicians – around in just a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, it was essential that we continued to serve our partners and communities so we surveyed all our musicians and settings about their digital capabilities – could they watch films online? Would it be in a shared space or on individual iPads? Could musicians record material? Were they living with their ensembles or now having to work solo? From that we put
Nina: We knew the first lockdown was coming but it was still a shock to have all of our
training in place for them and for ourselves! We were only one step ahead of our musicians – and in many cases they were teaching us new skills too.
Janet: And obviously the parameters everyone was working within kept changing, so even when we could get back into schools and care homes everything required new COVID policies and risk assessments. This was really important work. Working with Music for Dementia and the wider Musical Care Taskforce, guidance around singing in care homes was created and became the national standard for the entire adult social care sector.
Nina: I am so proud that we did not shut down. I think that speaks volumes about us as an organisation and how we always want to meet the needs of the communities that we serve.
Janet: The people we work with were delivering on the frontline everyday. We have care home partners that lost 19 residents in a single weekend. It was a devastatingly hard time. A senior care home manager said that she had faithfully watched our ‘Facebook Live for Care’ every single Wednesday, and that in the worst moments of the pandemic, it was the one thing
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in her week that brought her joy. It was quite overwhelming to hear that a 50-minute concert was the single thing that kept someone going.
Nina: It just proves that the work that we do is necessary. It’s not a nice to have. It’s not entertainment. It’s necessary. Because you can’t look after people unless you’re looking after their whole selves, including their mental health and wellbeing.
Janet: And our musicians are at the heart of that. We’ve really seen what an important role musicians have to play at the heart of their communities.
We are so fortunate to have such a generous and responsive team of both staff and musicians at Live Music Now. It’s been at the forefront of our minds as we consider how we go forward. What is it that makes our team so special?
Nina: The excellence of our musicians is what truly sets Live Music Now apart. We don’t dictate musical programmes for them. Our musicians use their own music as the starting point for their relationship with their audiences – they are their authentic musical selves, using the music that makes them tick. As a result
Live Music Now staff team started meeting weekly on zoom in the early days of COVID lockdown.
they’re really passionate about it and better able to communicate with other people as a starting point. And that opens up conversations with their audiences about what they like and on into making music together. It’s about collaboration and co-creating, not just a performance to be observed, which brings real authenticity and trust to the work.
Janet: Agreed. Also, our staff are extremely creative and great at holding all the threads together. It’s a powerful combination. Everyday
they push us to be better, to think carefully about how best we can serve our communities and deliver exceptional work.
Nina: That drive has led us to use 2020 as a time to reflect and act on our diversity and inclusion. We were invited to take part in the initial cohort of I’M IN - a tool for auditing diversity and inclusion within music organisations - run by Music Masters. It was a real privilege to be given the opportunity and the space to think about this work in depth. Working alongside our Strategic Director of Wellbeing, Douglas Noble, we created a panorganisational working group which has put in place new mechanisms for Live Music Now to broaden our musicians’ cohort, uncover new talent and work more effectively with the whole range of communities that we serve.
Janet: I came to Live Music Now from an organisation in a world where the artists deeply reflected the communities they were working with. It took excellent work to a whole new level and made the work far more profound. For me it is vital that we have a diverse and representative workforce. To be taking Live Music Now on a similar journey to reflect and understand our communities is tremendously exciting. We
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want the voices of our communities at the heart of what we do, and to work in much more collaborative way with all of our stakeholders.
Nina: We’ll really start to see the fruits of this in 2022.
Janet: Absolutely. And we’ll explore how we centre musicians within their local communities. We should be incentivising talented musicians to stay where they want to live and work as vital pillars in those communities, rather than all musicians feeling they have to move and live within a few cities which monopolise the UK’s cultural opportunities.
We need to embed the work that we do and let it grow within communities. Like planting a tree you won’t see grow. We want to start exploring what our early years interventions will mean to the adult social care sector in 90 years’ time. It’s a different and longer-term way of thinking.
Nina: Another big year coming then!
Janet: We’ve learnt a lot from the pandemic and as a result have a renewed confidence in our work. We are one of the largest employers of freelance musicians in the country and we have an obligation and a responsibility to start tackling some of the big questions for them like what success looks like in the music
industry; demonstrate how arts impact on adult social care; why music is so important in the classroom especially when working with children facing disabling barriers; and how music can be used as a communication tool and a function of a just and fair society. Just a couple of small things!
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WHY MUSIC IS PARTICIPATORY
Michael Spitzer, author of The Musical Human Professor of Music, University of Liverpool
Millions of years on from these origins, the function of human music hasn’t fundamentally changed. Music is still quintessentially social and participatory. It is something we do with other people. By engaging with the gift of music, we are relating to others.
Before the Beatles were the Beatles, they were a skiffle band called The Quarrymen. What skiffle shares with musics as far apart as the Shona of Zimbabwe, the Peruvian Aymara and Midwestern American dance is that they are participatory.
participants need to pay acute attention to each other in the moment, creating a heightened sense of synchrony and immediacy. Densely overlapping textures, wide tunings, unrelenting loudness and fast pace are a gentle cover for everyone to participate. Most importantly, participatory musics blur the line between musicians and audience, a boundary which is so prominent in the institution of the Western classical concert.
According to the ethnomusicologist Thomas Turino, participatory musics across the world have many features in common: they cater for a wide range of abilities; their success is gauged by the intensity of people’s involvement rather than by artistic quality; they have open forms, without clear beginnings or endings, so people can join in and fall out whenever they like, and they are made up of cyclic repetitions of easy-to-remember short units. Because performances are only loosely scripted,
Of course, the Beatles soon left skiffle behind on their path to masterpieces such as Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road , albums which demand as much rapt attention as any art music. It could even be argued that deep listeners of any genre can be as actively involved with the music as performers – that in the process of listening
we imaginatively recreate the music in our minds. Everybody gains from the experience of making music, as I’ve learned at the University of Liverpool where I teach.
The majority of students at the university study popular music and devote most of their energy to rehearsing in a band. There are many benefits. Playing together teaches group thinking, social bonding and the power of collective action. It enhances working memory and ‘executive action’, i.e., the conscious
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control of actions, thoughts, and emotions, planning and focus (including ignoring distractions), as well as cognitive flexibility – adapting to challenges and novel situations. Most importantly, what binds the ensemble – any ensemble, from skiffle to gamelan, from Trinidadian steel bands to Pakistani qawwali – is the collective experience of emotion. Why do I think emotion is the crux of musical participation? The renewed influence of Darwinian evolutionary theory on the humanities has taught us that the phenomenon we call ‘emotion’ isn’t a matter of mere
physiological stimulation. Emotion blends together not just feelings but ideas, states of mind and behaviours. It turns out that music is the language of emotion par excellence . It is on the basis of shared emotion that music synchronizes a crowd’s thoughts, feelings and mental states. The child-psychologist Daniel Stern called this bond ‘affect attunement’. Stern was considering the emotional dialogue played out in a mother’s lullaby to her child, or in infant-directed speech. But ‘affect attunement’ applies equally to what happens within a band or in the football chants on the terraces at Anfield. It may also lie in the evolutionary roots of music.
We know that music is millions of years older than spoken language. Crickets chirp in regular beats, birds and whales sing. Strangely, given that humans evolved along the ape line, primates aren’t very musical: unlike the aforementioned birds and whales, they lack vocal learning (the ability to create new calls) and they have little sense of rhythm. Yet chimps, bonobos, and gorillas are creative inventors of gesture, with which they groom each other and hold the pack together. Gradually, as primates evolved into
early humans, sound took over from touch in a process that the anthropologist Robin Dunbar calls ‘vocal grooming’. A gesture strokes one individual at a time, while a voice can command many. This is why we still talk of being ‘touched’ by music. According to the biologist Tecumseh Fitch, the corticoneurons in a chimp’s fingers evolved into those in the human larynx. Thus, making music together, through singing, clapping and dancing enhanced a group’s cohesion by tuning the tribe with the same emotional state. Emotional attunement through music strengthened our ancestors’ ‘theory of mind’, an intuition of another person’s thoughts and feelings, and helped build the first societies. Music is arguably the most important thing we learned to do as a species.
Millions of years on from these origins, the function of human music hasn’t fundamentally changed. Music is still quintessentially social and participatory. It is something we do with other people. Even when we listen to music through earbuds in our arm-chair, we are plugged into a social network, because the language of music is made up of conventional patterns. Music is never alone. By engaging with the gift of music, whether it be as a maker or a listener, we are relating to others.
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IMPACT
Live Music Now Online ......................................................11 Children & Young People .................................................13 Adult Social Care ....................................................................20 Our Musicians ..........................................................................27 Diversity & Inclusion ............................................................34 Looking Forward ....................................................................35
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LIVE MUSIC NOW ONLINE
In 2020, as many schools and care settings closed their doors, physical access to performance spaces became heavily limited. Freelance musicians faced cancelled bookings, empty calendars and a lack of vital income.
In the face of adversity, Live Music Now pivoted to produce a programme of pre-recorded and live-streamed events, enabling us to continue providing children, families, residents and staff with exceptional music, and providing our musicians with a much-needed income.
centrally for our Wales, South East, South West, North East, North West and Northern Ireland branches. The videos were uploaded to YouTube, where they reached 27,286 viewers. This enabled families and care settings to access Live Music Now’s content on-demand, increasing the accessibility of our work.
Accessed by care settings and families across our regions of operation, the concerts brought joy to those missing the social interaction and creative stimulus of our concert programme. Viewership figures hit 58,263 across prerecorded and live-streams.
Live-stream
We moved our work with schools and care settings online via a variety of platforms including Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Besides the targeted digital work, Live Music Now also used Facebook Live to reach wider audiences. 52 live-streams took place, reaching more general audiences at home, in schools and in care settings between October 2020 and April 2021, engaging 92 musicians and reaching a total of 30,977 views on Facebook. This figure
Pre-recorded
Starting from the first week of May 2020 and carried through until well into 2021, Live Music Now organised a total of 143 recordings from a wide variety of performers. These were created
is likely to understate the true reach as care settings and schools would tune in to watch the video from a single screen.
Live Music Now musician Zoë Wren, who eventmanaged part of the live-stream season, said the series “ turned out to be a really valuable experience… especially after the long break from performing live.” The digital approach also allowed musicians to tune in and “ see different approaches” from their peers, thereby increasing their own skillsets too.
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Tom Hawthorn, drummer for Backchat Brass, used lockdown to learn new skills, saying: “Time to learn how to record the drums at home has also meant that I have started to develop a totally new skill set, allowing me to do things like remote recording sessions and online Zoom teaching.”
Read more from him here: bit.ly/3clRAhV
However, this pivot was not without its difficulties. Musicians had to get to grips with new roles, unfamiliar technology and unpredictable internet connections. Some performers moved into jobs outside of performing arts and were no longer available for concerts.
Some musicians, however, jumped at the opportunity to take their work online.
“I’ve had to adapt, learn new skills, and be more independent as a musician,” said one in a survey
and engage musicians from further afield. The success of the digital programme has encouraged us to develop a hybrid offering, where on-demand videos now sit alongside our live events programme. This enables us to tailor our offer to suit the needs of the variety of settings in which we work.
of musicians Live Music Now conducted. “I managed to build up a good amount of online work,” said another, “with more pupils and online streams/workshops.”
The future
Delivering work online has allowed Live Music Now to reach more isolated audiences
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CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE
Karen Irwin: Strategic Director, Children & Young People
In a year that has been exceptionally difficult for everyone, disabled children and young people (and their families) were among those disproportionally affected.
sessions for children and young people, including: 888
Existing social and economic inequalities, including a lack of access to music education, have been exacerbated during the pandemic. Many families have been cut off from vital therapies and support services, and their feeling of abandonment affected their mental health and well-being.
online sessions for individual children and 403 their families at home
online sessions for 31 special education 128 schools
As a leading provider of inclusive musical activities in special education settings, children’s hospitals and community centres, we know the important role that music-making plays in supporting children and young people’s personal, social, emotional and cognitive development. Music is children and young people’s favourite pastime[1] , equal to gaming
recorded concerts and resources 87
live streamed concerts for multiple schools and 10 families
and ahead of sport, drama, dancing, and arts & crafts. For children with communication difficulties, it opens up new ways to express themselves. For those who find social interaction difficult, our sessions provide a safe environment to enjoy peer interaction.
For these reasons, when the pandemic hit, we were determined to keep our programme going by adapting provision and creating new ways for children and young people to access musicmaking. Following consultation with schools and our musicians, we dived straight into the world of online live music.
One of the first steps was to commission Live Music Now musicians to record short accessible performances for a new free library of concerts to share with schools and families. This became a resource that we continue to build and share widely today.
Amidst significant challenges faced by schools in delivering learning remotely, we adapted our national Inspire programme, which supports music provision in special education settings. Musicians-in-Residence, delivering year-long programmes in host schools, connected directly online with
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1 The Sound of the Next Generation, Youth Music and Ipsos MORI, 2019 https://youthmusic.org.uk/sound-of-the-next-generation
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individual pupils at home and in schools, using methods piloted by the South East branch. In one Somerset school, classmates worked individually with their musician to create a music video, providing valuable peer connection during a time of intense social isolation. Other Musicians-in-Residence liaised with school staff to create easy-to-use musical resources for the classroom and at home, with the aim of keeping music-making going.
In the summer of 2020 the Live Music Now Wales team trail-blazed a new online family programme to support the mental health of children experiencing a particularly difficult time during lockdown. Musicians were paired with a family for a series of 8-10 online personalised music sessions, providing muchneeded social connection. The programme was developed further by the Northern Ireland team, exploring the use of digital music apps to promote inclusion of children and young people with disabilities, and launched in March 2021 in North West England with NHS partners on International Social Prescribing Day, under the title of Including Me . Over 80 isolated families took part in the programme throughout the year.
Autumn 2020 saw musicians return to limited face-to-face work with children and young people, having undertaken training and risk assessments to ensure musical activities could be delivered safely. In the North East, the Dovetail Trio were amongst the first to visit a school to perform a live concert and work with class ‘bubbles’. Another memorable moment was the resumption of our long-standing residency at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool. The unique design of the hospital with its individual rooms for patients, meant
that our six musicians could deliver their music sessions safely, working in full PPE and following a strict health and safety protocol.
In December 2020 there was another ‘first’ when the South West team worked with Devon and Torbay Music Education Hubs to broadcast a live concert to schools across the region. This highly cost-effective method of bringing live music directly into multiple class-rooms led to the launch of Musical Mondays, a new series of live online concerts opening new ways to work in partnership with schools, music education hubs and music services.
On reflection, it’s been a remarkable year of innovation, creativity and expansion. This was made possible by the excellent teamwork across our branches, the creativity and resilience of our musicians and the flexibility and commitment of key partners and funders. Next year will be all the richer as we incorporate these new ways of working into our programme to continue supporting the provision of live music to those who would benefit most.
Karen Irwin Strategic Director Children and Young People
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THE DOVETAIL TRIO AND EAST RIDING FOLK
East Riding Folk was a Musicians-in-Residence collaboration between Riverside Community Special School and Live Music Now musicians The Dovetail Trio , led by Rosie Hood. Riverside School applied to Youth Music for funding and were awarded just over £10,000 to devise the project which included working within the local community. In March 2020, the funding arrived.
In September 2020, with a lot of rethinking and re-working (think risk assessments, social distancing, masks, plenty of ventilation, bubbles and Microsoft Teams!) the project was ready to begin.
The Dovetail Trio worked with a range of groups across the full Key Stage range – sometimes in-person, and often streamed into classrooms from the main hall to ensure ‘bubbles’ remained intact. This approach had the added benefit of being able to reach families and children who were isolating at home. The musicians delivered harvestthemed workshops, covering many aspects of making music including soundscapes, songwriting, rhythm and listening skills
through a variety of folk songs. The children participated well using actions, singing and playing both tuned and untuned percussion, and the level of engagement was high, even through a screen.
Following the second lockdown, Riverside School and Rosie worked to build a new approach to delivery using Microsoft Teams as a streaming platform when required. By this point school staff, pupils and musicians were confident in using digital teaching methods and Rosie was able to work with several classes on a regular basis. These sessions enabled pupils to develop their composition skills in the context of local folk songs – exploring a sense of ‘place’ and heritage.
The project engaged 38 children, five staff and three Live Music Now musicians on a weekly basis. 24 students aged 15-16 were supported in achieving their ASDAN Expressive Arts Award – which was an unexpected benefit of the delays over the academic year! The final workshop sessions in July 2021 were attended by over 120 students.
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INCLUDING ME
Looking for ways to engage young people with live music during the pandemic, we launched Including Me , a music programme aimed at families with children experiencing a challenging time due to lack of social interaction, family circumstances or their additional needs not being met.
Including Me pairs a musician with a young person and their family for ten sessions, during which they explore musical performance, instruments, song-writing and improvisation. Musicians receive ongoing training in how best to transfer their work online while ensuring sessions remain engaging and interactive. Using a suite of apps to promote participation and inclusion, families and musicians compose songs together in sessions created for and led by the young people at the centre of the work.
Read more about Including Me here: www.livemusicnow.org.uk/including-me/
“It was a Jack-and-me time each week – we had fun together and were able to develop and build on this time by continuing to work on the music project during weekends.”
Parent
“I’ve been able to personalise the content and make the sessions responsive to the children’s needs. It’s been lovely getting to know the families and watching the children develop and progress over the weeks. I felt I was able to make a small difference and give ideas to the parents on how to continue with the musical activities throughout the week. It has proven how important music is for the health and wellbeing of children and their families.”
Angharad Jenkins Live Music Now Wales musician
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MUSIC AS MEDICINE WITH ALDER HEY CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
In 2021, we rounded off Music as Medicine , the latest collaboration between Live Music Now and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool. Over the past yearand-a-half, six Live Music Now musicians worked with 55 long-term patients to improve their quality of life and musical skills during their stay in hospital.
During the music sessions, patients explored and played different instruments including the ukulele, mini harp, keyboard and percussion and learned to use digital music apps. Many patients also worked with the musicians to compose and perform their own songs, inspired by their interests and personal experience.
When the pandemic hit in March 2020 the programme was put on hold. However, over the summer, the hospital produced a rigorous set of protocols enabling the musicians to return to face to face delivery in October 2020 – one of the only hospital music programmes in the UK to to resume in person during the pandemic.
Music as Medicine is the latest programme in an ongoing partnership between Live Music Now and Alder Hey, funded by Youth Music. The next phase of the programme will be launched in January 2022.
Read more about Music as Medicine here: bit.ly/AlderHeyLMN
“Music helps me forget about my treatment for a while.”
Harry, aged 10
“It made me the happiest I’ve been in hospital.”
Elsa, aged 9
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T[ˆ] Y HAFAN CHILDREN’S HOSPICE FOR WALES
Live Music Now Wales started their musical partnership with Tˆy Hafan, the children’s hospice for Wales in April 2018, with regular “All Together Now” live music concerts for families and life limited children to enjoy together.
These live performances continued thanks to lottery funding until March 2020 when the pandemic hit and everything shut down. As the children at Tˆy Hafan were some of the most vulnerable to the effects of Covid19, the hospice was not able to continue their respite services for families and were forced to focus solely on those needing end of life care. These changes hit the wellbeing of both staff and families hard.
LMN Wales approached Tˆy Hafan in February 2021 about the possibility of running online live music concerts to provide creative connection to those attending Tˆy Hafan once more, despite the restrictions. A Facebook fundraiser raised over £3000 and their first virtual concert featured Mezzo Soprano Nicole Boardman of Boardman Ferla Duo. The impact and importance of this session was more than anyone could have predicted:
“I just wanted to say thank you so much for the virtual concert you facilitated for us last week. Both children who took part got so much out of it, however you made a real difference to one family. One child who took part sadly died the next day. He had been very unwell but was able to take part in the Live Music Now virtual concert. It was the last activity he took part in. He was able to listen to the concert with both his parents, whilst making music of his own. This has given the family beautiful, invaluable memories which I am sure they will treasure forever. I wanted to share this with you, as your virtual concerts really do help us to make every short life a full life.”
“We’re so grateful that our families get to be taken out of themselves at a really tough time and experience the joy that your concerts bring. Music can and does make a real difference to Tˆy Hafan families and we are incredibly grateful for your continued support - it really does make a huge difference.”
Emma Atkins, Play Coordinator
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T[ˆ] Y HAFAN HOSBIS PLANT YNG NGHYMRU
Dechreuodd Live Music Now Cymru ei bartneriaeth gerddorol gyda Thŷ Hafan, hosbis plant yng Nghymru, ym mis Ebrill 2018 Cynhaliwyd cyngherddau cerddorol byw “Pawb Gyda’i Gilydd Nawr” (“All Together Now”) ar gyfer teuluoedd a phlant â chyfyngiad oes er mwyn iddyn nhw fwynhau gyda’i gilydd.
Roedd y perfformiadau byw hyn yn parhau, diolch i arian loteri, hyd at fis Mawrth 2020 pan oedd y pandemig yn dechrau a phopeth wedi cau. Gan fod y plant yn Nhŷ Hafan yn rhai o’r rhai mwyaf bregus i effeithiau Covid19, ni allai’r hosbis barhau i gynnig gwasanaethau seibiant i deuluoedd. Gorfodwyd hwy i ganolbwyntio’n unig ar y rhai oedd angen gofal diwedd oes. Roedd y newidiadau hyn yn taro llesiant y staff a’r teuluoedd yn galed.
Ym mis Chwefror 2021, gofynnodd LMN Cymru i Dŷ Hafan a fyddai’n bosibl cynnal cyngherddau
cerddorol byw ar-lein. Byddai’r rhain yn rhoi cysylltiad creadigol, unwaith eto, i’r rhai sy’n mynychu Tŷ Hafan, er waetha’r cyfyngiadau. Roedd rhywun ar Facebook yn codi dros £3000. Yn canu yn eu cyngerdd rhithiol cyntaf roedd y Mezzo Soprano Nicole Boardman o Ddeuawd Boardman Ferla. Roedd effaith a phwysigrwydd y sesiwn hwn yn fwy nag y gallai unrhyw un fod wedi rhagweld:
“Hoffwn ddweud diolch yn fawr am y cyngerdd rhithiol a drefnwyd gennych ar ein cyfer yr wythnos ddiwethaf. Roedd y ddau blentyn oedd wedi cymryd rhan wedi cael cymaint allan ohono, fodd bynnag roeddech yn gwneud gwahaniaeth go iawn i un teulu. Bu un plentyn a fu’n cymryd rhan, farw’n drist iawn drannoeth. Roedd wedi bod yn sâl iawn ond llwyddodd i gymryd rhan yng nghyngerdd rhithiol Live Music Now. Hwn oedd y gweithgaredd olaf iddo gymryd rhan ynddo. Llwyddodd i wrando ar y cyngerdd gyda’i ddau riant tra’n creu ei gerddoriaeth ei hun. Mae hyn wedi rhoi atgofion gwerthfawr, hyfryd i’r teulu ac mae’n siŵr y byddan nhw’n eu trysori am byth. Roeddwn am rannu hyn gyda chi, gan fod eich cyngherddau rhithiol gwirioneddol yn ein helpu i wneud pob bywyd byr yn fywyd llawn.”
“Rydyn ni mor ddiolchgar bod ein teuluoedd yn gallu mynd y tu hwnt iddyn nhw eu hunain ar adeg mor anodd a phrofi’r hapusrwydd y mae eich cyngherddau’n ei gynnig. Gall cerddoriaeth wneud gwahaniaeth go iawn i deuluoedd Tŷ Hafan ac maen nhw’n gwneud gwahaniaeth. Rydyn ni’n hynod ddiolchgar am eich cefnogaeth barhaus - mae wir yn gwneud gwahaniaeth anferthol.”
Emma Atkins, Cydlynydd Chwarae
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ADULT SOCIAL CARE
Douglas Noble: Strategic Director, Wellbeing
Partnership, cooperation and activism all played important roles in our work during a year that was extraordinarily hard for our friends and partners who live and work in care homes.
concert DVDs produced and distributed to care 350 homes and those at home
interactive livestream sessions delivered in 191 residential care settings for older people
Live Music Now had to play an active role in reducing the risk of people – already isolated by their condition and circumstances – becoming even more cut off.
Live Music in Care weekly livestreamed concerts for 36 care homes on Facebook Live reaching over 20,000 people
We moved to provide live music in a way that was accessible online, supported by guidance, information as to what was available, and supporting the sharing of best practice. This was an unconditional offer avoiding putting any extra demands on the care settings and responding to the need for our work in an effective way.
online sessions for sheltering older people 45 and their carers/families at home
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Pre-recorded concerts and resources
We produced Live Music Now at Home, Live Music in Care Facebook Live broadcasts and outdoor concerts, where and when safe to do so. We know that this work made a difference to people living and working in care. Our evaluations show that, of those who took part in these activities and gave feedback ,100% of the care staff team members said that watching our LMN Online streamed concerts lifted their mood, 100% of older people who took part in our interactive online music sessions said that they enjoyed taking part and that doing so lifted their mood, and 92% of residents who attended care home garden concerts had their mood and engagement lifted from before to both during and after taking part.
We needed to remain active as advocates by campaigning for the value (and need for growth) of music in the care experience, in particular for those living with dementia. In partnership with Music for Dementia, we continued our leadership of the Musical Care Taskforce. We continued convening and chairing our Steering Group meetings, with Playlist for Life, The National Care Forum, The Association of British Orchestras and the Care Quality Commission, looking for ways to offer leadership and support.
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This manifested in the Keeping the Music Going activities, comprising a survey of what those in care settings were doing, followed by an online event in October in partnership with the National Care Forum, attended by over 70 people; care workers, providers and settings; care sector membership organisations; musicians; music and health professionals; and people living with dementia. The session encouraged innovation and creativity. Having fun, joining in and “having a go” were the key takeaways. We also received a request for guidance on how to keep singing while mitigating the risks of airborne transmission, which led to us creating the “Dose of Music” Paper.
In November, we were invited by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing to present on the role of music and musicians during a webinar on Care, Care Homes and the Arts and Creativity. We presented Live Music Now’s work with care professionals around developing a culture of care. We shared the hard work and the achievements of the Live Music Now team, the musicians and care setting staff in the Live Music in Care project and in keeping live performance going during the pandemic.
You can watch the session here: bit.ly/APPGArtsandHealthSW
In February, we were invited to present to a Private Roundtable on Music & the Arts for People with Dementia in Care Homes, convened by Ian McCreath, Alzheimer’s UK, Music for Dementia and Nicola Gitsham, Head of Social Prescribing Personalised Care for NHS England. We advocated for the value and impact of carefully-delivered person-centric live music as well as the potential to develop the care setting staff to support this, demonstrating how this creates happier places to live and work.
Throughout the year, we have also been an active member of the Music Care Conference Steering Group, developing the programme for the third Power of Music Innovations in Care Conference in March, hosted by the University of Nottingham and Room 217. Live Music Now chaired an international panel discussion focusing on working with older people through music.
We also had a responsibility to share and contribute to the national sector-wide learning and understanding being gained through the innovative ways that Live Music Now and others were responding to the pandemic.
We contributed a case study to a Culture Health and Wellbeing Alliance Report entitled “How have culture and creativity been supporting people in health, care and other institutions during the Covid-19 pandemic?” which was published at the end of the year.
Douglas Noble Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing
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IN TUNE WITH COVID
In Tune with Covid , a paper for the Adult Social Care sector, was published in partnership with Music for Dementia, Care England, NAPA and the National Care Forum. To download and read the paper, visit: bit.ly/3nrGJtt
In November 2020, in response to the demand from people working in the ASC sector at the Keeping the Music Going event, we co-wrote and published this paper to support the sector in mitigating the transmission risk posed by singing, enabling people to take an informed decision on when and how to sing. From the event, it was clear there was a desire to keep on singing, as care settings saw
a significant benefit for helping those living with dementia feel part of a community in the face of Covid-imposed isolation. In the months following the report’s publication, NAPA told us they were sending it out to multiple care homes every day, and that feedback from their members was hugely positive.
“We used the information to form a full risk assessment which we now follow to keep our residents safe whilst singing. It made a massive difference to our Advent of Activities. Thank you!”
NAPA Member Care Home
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ENSEMBLE HESPERI & PARK AVENUE CARE HOME
Live Music Now musicians Mary-Jannet Leith and Thomas Allery of Ensemble Hesperi were delivering a 12-week music residency at Park Avenue care home in Bromley, when the Covid19 lockdown was declared. Here they describe how they continued to visit residents online, and the fantastic musical response from the care home staff team as well.
“Having already built up an excellent rapport with staff and residents at Park Avenue, we asked whether they might be able to set up a live link via Zoom for remote delivery of the rest of the sessions. On the day before the first online session, we e-mailed a Zoom invitation to the care home contact, so that they could access the live stream well in advance.
We set up in our front room, with harpsichord and recorders ready, natural lighting, and with a camera angle suitable for both musicians. Because we had several weeks’ experience at this care home, we knew which songs were favourites.
One of the main challenges was not being able to move around the room to make sure all residents feel able to engage with the activities, so it’s really important to have a detailed phone-call with the care home contact well in advance of the session. For us, it really helped to send a session plan by e-mail, and to discuss with the care home who will be in the room who can help to lead activities.
Another challenge, compared to a typical Live Music Now session, is not being able to see the residents’ responses in person. As Live Music Now musicians, we usually rely on this to adapt the session, repeat or develop successful activities. Although it’s not possible to overcome this completely, we managed to keep the rapport with the residents by asking more questions, and using residents’ names.
Despite some challenges, we feel that the sessions were really benefitting the residents and staff, and that singing, in particular, is a brilliant way of building community spirit. This is something that can quite easily be done remotely, using songs and activities already familiar to residents in care homes. We felt very positive and uplifted after each session, and were surprised how much we felt like we had been in the room, despite not leaving our living room.”
Read more at bit.ly/3kI8lbV
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SINGING IN THE RAIN
Live Music Now musicians pitched up in the gardens of care homes to continue involving residents with live music.
Live Music Now North East worked with Leeds City Council Adults and Health service to bring live music engagement to the Leeds Recovery Hub. The hubs provide community care beds for older people, including those who are recovering from Covid-19. Local Live Music Now musician Simon Robinson provided a live outdoor performance which people could see and hear in the central courtyard.
Furthermore, as a result of the Musical Care Homes project, funded by Quartet Community Foundation, residents in Bristol enjoyed singing (within Covid-safe guidelines), moving to music and using percussion instruments. This creative solution enabled Live Music Now to host
three concert tours comprising a total of 18 performances for all residents and staff of six AbleCare care homes. Musical genres ranged from jazz (by the Hopkins Oliver Duo) to folk (Bowreed) and classical (performed by Taff Duo).
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MONKSCROFT CARE CENTRE
“Everyone is a musician, and has musical identity; taking the time to explore this, having fun, and being playful, will help music to grow in a setting.”
Live Music Now has been working with Monkscroft Care Centre in Cheltenham since 2017. After seeing the positive impact that regular music-making had on residents and staff, Monkscroft raised funds for a further residency in 2019, this time working with LMN singer-songwriter Julia Turner and bringing in young children from a local nursery. Residents and children taught each other favourite songs and wrote their own lyrics and songs together.
According to Activity Coordinator Sarah Davis, when the pandemic hit “Our way of engaging with music had to change in many ways. We were still able to offer those natural musical engagements daily; however we immediately missed that engagement with our local community such as musicians visiting us.” To help bridge the gap, Julia created a video for Monkscroft residents where she sang songs familiar to residents from her project there, including one they
wrote together with the children about the chickens that used to live at Monkscroft. The familiarity was really important and helpful, as residents recognised the songs they had formerly enjoyed as a group, sparking memories and lots of conversation.
“We really valued the pre-recorded videos that were available to us from Live Music Now. We found them really useful to use on a 1:1 basis, and this also enabled us to use the same video multiple times if we wished. It was a wonderful way of using music in a meaningful way when group activities were not possible during the pandemic.”
Sarah Davis
Read more here: bit.ly/LMNMonkscroft
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THEY’RE STILL SINGING AT APPLE BLOSSOM LODGE
In 2020-2021, we piloted a scheme funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Arts and Older People Programme, exploring how music could be delivered remotely on a oneto-one basis. Musicians Deirdre Galway and Louis McTeggart held six weekly musical sessions via Zoom, working on an individual level with four residents at Apple Blossom Lodge, supported by staff. iPads, loaded with accessible apps were also provided, and within days, men in their eighties were using GarageBand.
Through Deirdre’s repertoire of Irish traditional music and Louis’ guitar-playing, residents became highly engaged and looked forward to seeing the musicians. Rather than the screen acting as a barrier, it
allowed for connection between musicians and residents, and meant Live Music Now could continue delivering its work at a time when in-person visits were not possible. The residents took their digital tools and turned them into instruments: one rediscovered his musical past through a steel guitar app, playing along with Louis and writing five songs of his own during the project…
It offered residents a sense of purpose and motivation, and care home staff
commented that the project had “encouraged social interaction between the residents through music.” Staff also mentioned there had been “a lot less disruptive behaviour” , freeing them up to provide better care for all residents. Working closely with the four, staff were able to build up rapport, while expanding their care toolkit at the same time. It also boosted staff morale, with one member commenting: “It puts you in a good mood as well, because you’re sitting there and bopping along.”
The impact long outlasted the visits, and staff told Live Music Now: “They’re still singing!”
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OUR MUSICIANS
Musicians currently on the scheme 227
paid opportunities throughout the 1712 pandemic year
online training workshops 20
musicians upskilled 200+ through training webinars and practice forum addressing pandemicspecific topics
For Live Music Now’s roster of freelance musicians, the onset of the pandemic meant financial disaster.
As care homes and schools closed their doors and performances and residencies could not go ahead as planned, and the final weeks of March were spent in close communication with musicians to see how we could assist them.
The work was two-fold: supporting musicians financially by finding a way to continue live performances, and supporting musicians’ mental health through this tumultuous time.
Our Trustees generously donated over £15,000 to set up a Hardship Fund to cover artists’ cancellation fees to the end of April where projects funds could not, and in the first week of April – with the entire Live Music Now team working from their kitchen tables and
hastily-built home offices – we sent out the Remote Readiness survey to gauge musicians’ preparedness to perform online. The skills and experience levels among the musicians were hugely varied, but there was appetite to learn and to support others in learning, especially around tech, presenting online and the quality of recording and broadcast.
A week later, we hosted online training “The Show Must Go On”, a session as much about digital training as it was about fostering a feeling of solidarity and togetherness. We pivoted quickly to create Live Music Now at Home, organising large-scale recordings of performances to be sent out to our care settings and schools, then focused on improving the quality and framing of those videos. We put together resources for musicians detailing best practices, tech and facilitation guidelines for running sessions of all types online. In June we followed up with musicians in a session on what we’d learned so far from digital performances.
Performers had extremely varied experiences of the pandemic. Some, isolated from their fellow performers and feeling the financial insecurity, experienced a drop in mood and a lack of motivation to play their instruments.
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“I had many days last year where it was difficult to get out of bed and make myself do anything. My confidence in my ability as a musician has decreased massively.”
For others, living together with ensemble members or eligible for the UK Government’s SEISS, the change in pace enabled them space and time to learn new skills, devote attention to their families and continue their creative practice.
“Working as a carer has undoubtedly given me invaluable life experience which I hope will in turn continue to have a profound impact upon my creative out-put.”
Siân Dicker, an opera singer who retrained as a carer for people living with dementia
In September, we could look to the future with more optimism, as restrictions began to be lifted. We sent out another questionnaire gauging performers’ willingness to return to in-person performances. On the whole, musicians were keen to return both to indoor and outdoor performances, provided measures were in place to mitigate the risks: ventilation, sanitiser, masks, and social distancing.
In November 2020, we hosted the Practice Forum online, bringing musicians together to discuss important aspects to us in our music-making: engaging people through live performance, our mental health, and agreeing shared values and actions to improve inclusion in the sector.
“I came away with a widened perspective of the social and ethical implications of my work as a musician: our responsibility in our choice of language, or the repertoire we choose to share, if we are to harness music as a powerful tool for pulling towards a fairer and more inclusive society.”
Live Music Now Musician, following the Practice Forum, 25-26 November 2020.
Musicians appreciated being in close contact with Live Music Now throughout the year, and said the following about our resources and training:
“Really uplifting and gave me some much-needed positivity!”
“Life is bleak for musicians at the moment so hearing something inspiring was the best thing to get exposed to. It’s helpful for motivating yourself into coming up with ideas.”
“I’m super grateful for all of the support Live Music Now have given us through this difficult time. I feel so lucky and privileged to work for such an organisation.”
Nina Swann Executive Director
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and our last concert was cancelled. We were disappointed to miss this sold-out St. Patrick’s Day show, but understood it was necessary for everyone’s safety. It’s pretty devastating, not only due to our lost income, but because we really do enjoy the travel and performance aspect of our job.
PANDEMIC DIARY: CONOR LAMB AND DEIRDRE GALWAY
22 MAY 2020
Isolation is hard because we are removed from the many things that bring joy into our lives – our family, friends, interaction with other musicians, travel, going to concerts and eating out. It’s also difficult because it disrupts our
We were in the USA with our band Réalta when the pandemic began to impact Ireland. By the end of our three-week tour COVID-19 was also beginning to impact America
peace of mind, and this stress is compounded by the indefinite cancellation of our work and lack of financial support from the government.
Live Music Now has been particularly proactive in supporting their musicians and providing opportunities to work remotely. We are currently producing a series of Live Music Now videos aimed at a care home audience that will be made available online and on DVD. We hope to bring some joy to the listeners with these 30-minute concerts which include folk songs, lively dance tunes and relaxing airs. While most of the concert is filmed in our living room, we have also included footage of the outdoors to give our audience a connection with nature while so many are currently cocooning indoors.
“We look forward to the day this pandemic is behind us and we can return to the job we love, performing live music.”
Read Conor and Deirdre’s full pandemic diary here: bit.ly/3Du15aY
Watch all the videos Conor and Deirdre produced for Live Music Now here.
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PANDEMIC DIARY: ROSIE BERGONZI
6 OCTOBER 2020
The first weeks were a blur of emails of cancelled projects. Every day the calendar felt like it was teasing me with where I should have been. I was supposed to be in theatres, solo shows, tours, workshops and festivals but each day I was waking up in my bed staring at another day stuck at home.
It felt so difficult to be motivated to work during those first scary weeks… I couldn’t see the purpose of practising without performance. Slowly I began to enjoy the time I’d always wanted while rushing between gigs.
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death there was a reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement I’d never seen in my white friends. Suddenly my timelines were flooded with images of death, shattering statistics
and general outcry. It felt like people acted like they had just discovered racism, and wanted to tell me, a Black woman, how bad they’ve realised prejudice is. It felt mostly well intentioned, but not enough.
I wanted it to be the catalyst for change, but I wasn’t sure it would be. My fire to create was reignited, and I wrote I’m Not A Hashtag in a night.
Other songs followed. I’m most proud of my final song ‘My Hair is My Power. It’s a documentation of my journey to loving myself as a mixed-race person. I was so scared about releasing it to the world I pulled the plug three times during its creation.
It’s such a different, terrifying, experience to put your name beside words and stand by them. Once they’re written you can’t control how they are perceived, it’s out of your hands. But music has the power to reach people. I’ve been overwhelmed by strangers and unexpected friends complimenting me, saying my pieces resonate with them. All I want to do is make people stop and think, and on that level I’m immensely thankful for the lockdown. It has given me a platform to share, and the confidence to use it.
Subscribe to Rosie Bergonzi’s You Tube Channel here.
Read Rosie’s full pandemic diary here: bit.ly/3HINtLh
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PANDEMIC DIARY: JOSEPH CAVALLIPRICE
8 DECEMBER 2020
Slowly, one by one, engagements started to be cancelled – first the Japan tour, then the tour to Ireland…
I returned home ahead of the first national lockdown with anxieties and questions like every other freelance musician – what will I do now? But whilst the start of lockdown and the overnight change it brought for many was a sudden shock, I was actually grateful for the timing of it.
A few months earlier, I sadly lost both my Mother and my Godmother within a month of each other to cancer at the age of 59. They were close friends since their school days; they grew up together, laughed together, travelled together and most importantly, drank wine together! My mother’s passing was not
The absence of any work left me feeling unmotivated.
unexpected – she had been diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2010 and a few years later her diagnosis became terminal. My Godmother however, found out only two weeks before she passed that she had cancer.
It wasn’t until an email pinged into my inbox from Live Music Now that I finally found the motivation to play again. The email asked for our availability to record virtual concerts for care homes and those that were shielding – suddenly I had a purpose.
Anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one, especially a parent, understands the devastating and scattering feelings of loss.
With that being said, I found losing every single piece of work in my diary and the structure of my university commitments incredibly disheartening. Accompanists thrive off collaborating with other musicians.
Read what happened next in Joseph CavalliPrice’s Pandemic Diary here: bit.ly/3nMgDl7
Singalong with the video Joseph made for Live Music Now here: youtu.be/hezlQ9SCynE
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DYDDIADUR Y PANDEMIG: JOSEPH CAVALLIPRICE
8 RHAGFYR 2020
Yn araf, un ar ôl un, roedd digwyddiadau’n dechrau cael eu canslo - yn gyntaf taith Japan, yna’r daith i Iwerddon …
Dychwelais adref cyn y cyfnod clo cenedlaethol cyntaf gyda phryderon a chwestiynau fel pob cerddor llawrydd arall - beth alla i wneud ‘nawr? Ond, er bod dechrau’r cyfnod clo a’r newidiadau dros nos ddigwyddodd i nifer, yn sioc sydyn, roeddwn i’n falch iawn o’r amseru.
Ychydig fisoedd ynghynt, o fewn mis i’w gilydd yn drist iawn, collais fy mam a’m mam bedydd i ganser yn 59 oed. Roedden nhw’n ffrindiau mynwesol ers eu dyddiau ysgol - roedden nhw wedi tyfu i fyny gyda’i gilydd, chwerthin gyda’i gilydd, teithio gyda’i gilydd ac yn fwy pwysig wedi yfed gwin gyda’i gilydd! Nid oedd marwolaeth
absenoldeb unrhyw waith yn fy ngadael yn teimlo’n ddigymell.
mam yn annisgwyl - roedd wedi cael diagnosis tiwmor ar yr ymennydd yn 2010 ac, ychydig flynyddoedd yn ddiweddarach, roedd ei diagnosis yn derfynol. Fodd bynnag, dim ond pythefnos cyn iddi farw y darganfu fy mam bedydd ei bod yn dioddef gan ganser.
Dim ond pan ddaeth e-bost i fy mheiriant oddi wrth Live Music Now y bu i mi o’r diwedd gael y cymhelliant i chwarae eto. Roedd yr e-bost yn gofyn a oeddem ar gael i recordio cyngherddau rhithiol ar gyfer cartrefi gofal ac i’r rhai oedd yn cysgodi - o’r diwedd roedd pwrpas i’m bywyd.
Mae unrhyw un sydd wedi colli un o’u ceraint, yn arbennig rhiant, yn deall y teimladau dinistriol a chymysglyd o golled.
Darllenwch beth ddigwyddodd nesaf yn Nyddiadur y Pandemig yma: bit.ly/3nMgDl7
Er dweud hynny, teimlais fod colli pob darn o waith yn fy nyddiadur a strwythur fy ymrwymiadau yn y brifysgol wedi fy nigalonni’n anhygoel. Mae cyfeilyddion yn ffynnu ar gydweithio gyda cherddorion eraill. Roedd
Canwch gyda’r fideo roedd Joseph yn ei greu ar gyfer Live Music Now yma: youtu.be/ hezlQ9SCynE
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PANDEMIC DIARY: SÎAN DICKER
27 MARCH 2021
I was singing in an opera at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (GSMD) and we were due to perform our closing night show (also marking the end of my studies at the school). We received an email just hours before our call to stage, informing us that the show had been cancelled due to a case of coronavirus in the school. Little did we know how all of our lives would be impacted over the 12 months that followed.
I was due to be leaving my formal studies at GSMD to head to Garsington Opera for the summer. This was to be my first professional opera contract and I was so excited to get out into the big wide world and make what would feel like an official start to my career. Sadly, along with the majority of my colleagues, my entire summer of work was cancelled by the end of March.
Fortunately, a timely email came through from Garsington Opera, who sent a link to an article listing companies and organisations who were taking on new employees in light of the pandemic. One of these companies was Home Instead Senior Care, a domiciliary home-care company recruiting new carers to provide 1-to-1 care, assisting elderly people to live independently in their own homes. I sent in an application and just three weeks later, in April 2020, I was trained up and sent to meet my first client.
I had a couple of clients for whom music was once a big part of their lives, whether that was enjoying playing an instrument or going to dances with friends… One lady that I see regularly spent most of her adult life singing in a choir. From when we first met, we bond-ed over talking about our mutual love of singing and it’s a topic that we find ourselves returning to frequently during our time together. I had one gentleman who insisted I sing an entire Puccini aria whilst hanging out his washing! I once gave a mini recital for a couple I visit whilst working my way through their pile of ironing.
I’ve been incredibly lucky to have some wonderful musical opportunities throughout the last year, either performing live to an audience between lockdowns, or also performing online via live-stream. This has of course remained the primary focus of my work, but I can’t deny that stepping outside of my comfort zone, particularly in caring for my elderly clients, has had a significant impact on my work as an artist.
Read Sîan’s full pandemic diary here: bit.ly/3HzUcHk
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DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Bringing together people from across the organisation, we talked through the organisational questionnaire to gauge our current position. One of the areas I’M IN highlighted to us as a priority was the system of musicians’ recruitment. The recruitment process should provide applicants an accessible, safe and supportive environment – much as our musicians create for our audiences. We set up the D&I Working Group in September 2020, inviting 5 musicians who had experienced exclusion to participate, alongside members of our staff team (project managers, Operations, HR and the Chair of the Board of Trustees).
It is essential that our workforce, in order to properly serve our communities, must comprise members from a wide crosssection of society.
During the pandemic, we paused musicians’ recruitment and used the opportunity to reevaluate our processes.
In May/June 2020, we became one of the first organisations to take part in I’M IN, a new diversity and inclusion audit tool led by London Music Masters.
Using Sound and Music’s Fair Access Principles, we started to rewrite our recruitment process. We held many conversations with other partner organisations that work with musicians to discuss how to engage people in a supportive and inclusive manner. We decided to stop charging musicians to apply, scrapped the word “auditions”, ensured performers had more time to showcase their talent and provided more open communication to those in the recruitment process.
We are also attuned to the fact that our office staff and management team need to reflect a wider cross-section of society. In January 2021, when we applied for the Cultural Recovery Fund, we requested considerable funds to enable us to employ external consultants to drive our D&I journey at the board level and in our everyday practice. This work is ongoing, and we are confident and excited about a future in which Live Music Now’s workforce and musicians mirror the vast variety of audiences we see in the UK.
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LOOKING FORWARD
Live Music Now CEO Janet Fischer
However, the impact of COVID-19 not only has dramatically affected our work in the short term but has triggered a reappraisal of the needs of the communities we serve and the way in which we serve them. We needed to think afresh about the wider sector in which we operate and tackle some of the key issues our participants and workforces experience. Crucially this means developing new and existing partnerships, diversifying, and increasing the resilience of our workforce and organisation, and taking our place as a national voice for change. After several months of consultation internally and with partner organisations, public agencies, and communities at large we have developed an ambitious new Strategic Intent for Live Music Now.
In 2017 Live Music Now launched Bringing Music to Life , an ambitious five-year strategy. Focused on five key aims of Reach, Excellence, Wider Engagement, Evaluation and Advocacy, it achieved early delivery success and created new benchmarks for evaluation across the organisation.
The core of our new strategic intent is the belief that Live Music Now is an organisation delivering social impact through music . We create that social impact through musicians, whom we consider to be our most valuable
partners and our greatest asset, and seek to serve the ever-increasing need from communities facing social exclusion and disadvantage, both across the UK and internationally.
We seek to become a recognised leader in positive, lasting social change by harnessing the connective power of exceptional music. We will achieve this through three commitments:
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Supporting the musical lives of people experiencing challenging circumstances, disadvantage and social exclusion
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Developing and supporting the workforce of professional musicians to ensure quality of practice and the best outcomes for the communities we serve
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Advocating and evidencing the transformative benefits of live music on learning, development, health and wellbeing
These commitments will impact our work in a variety of ways. We will launch an ambitious new programme, Embedded in Place: a 10-year strategy to embed our interventions within specific communities, working as a connector and as a delivery partner.
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It will establish musicians as key figures within communities , driving both economic and cultural agency and incentivising talented artists to develop long-term relationships in their own communities. This work will also enable co-creation and co-design with the communities and use wider alliances to facilitate co-location of services and deliver better value for money.
We will revitalise our musicians’ recruitment and pathways. We want our musicians to better reflect the communities that we serve and ensure that their entire experience with Live Music Now is holistic and enriching. As cultural agents in their own right, we will work more closely with our musicians to develop our programmes and facilitate their growth within communities as lynchpins of social cohesion and inclusion.
Advocacy and evidence underpin all our work. Live Music Now feels that we have both a responsibility and an obligation to our communities and partners to assume a leadership stance by driving conversations, including others, and shaping the agenda. This will be done by establishing new research projects, creating opportunities and a forum for sharing of evidence, and convening action-led working groups helping to drive real change for our communities and musicians.
The next five years will be a period of significant change for Live Music Now as we seek to serve the rapidly increasing need for our work. We are excited about the opportunities that have developed for the organisation and remain deeply committed to serving our communities while continuing to be dynamic and responsive to the needs of our stakeholders: our participants, musicians, partners and workforce. We see a world – rich in communication, vibrant in creativity and expression – which is musical at its heart and inclusive of all.
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BRANCHES
England North East .............................................................38 England North West ..........................................................40 England South West ..........................................................42 England South East ...........................................................44 Northern Ireland ................................................................... 46 Wales ..............................................................................................48
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ENGLAND – NORTH EAST
Live Music Now North East spans 12,000 square miles and has a population of just under 10 million people – who live in very rural areas, highly populated city areas and everywhere in between.
The boundaries reach from the Northumberland border with Scotland to the edge of Leicestershire, enclosed by a varied coastal line and the wildness of the Pennines. We can tick every box on the tourist wish list!
Our population is as diverse as our geography – and as a regional branch we seek to reach those who live behind closed doors and are unable to access the transformative power of live music.
As a branch our challenges are obvious: a small but dedicated staff spread over a large area, meaning we can’t meet every need. Combined with the restrictions presented by a pandemic, this year gave us the opportunity to identify what is possible and what is not. We were able to
focus on our strengths and consider how to make the biggest possible impact with our resources. We had time to reach out to other organisations to share ideas and experiences, open up new partnerships, tell more people about our work, and become more flexible and adaptable in finding new ways of working which will remain in place in the future.
The strength of the branch comes partly from our roster of professional musicians who live in the region – playing a breadth of musical genres from traditional folk to jazz and world music. Musicians are supported by the training that the branch offers to everyone who works with us. All musicians have the opportunity to tour special educational school provision in the region – delivering interactive and participatory sessions in the children’s own setting. All musicians have the opportunity to deliver a tour in adult care settings, enabling us to reach people in their own spaces.
Using this resource we are able to deliver a range of projects and events which are tailored to the venues and lead to positive results. Putting Musicians-in-Residence in schools is valued by both the musician and school leadership. Musicians visiting care settings and working with residents and staff creates
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a better understanding of the value of music and creativity in everyday routines. Community events such as Songs and Scones supported by our much valued committee members bring together different generations to exchange news and views. The pandemic restrictions, however, prevented us from reaching our settings. The need was still there, but we had to move quickly to find a new way to reach participants. Staff
and musicians developed a range of skills in a very short period: using Zoom and Microsoft Teams, broadcasting live concerts from their living rooms, developing virtual workshops, creating digital resources and the tools required to visit a school and perform in the hall while streaming the concert to every classroom. We opened the closed doors – virtually!
Our three Musicians-in-Residence in Hull, Knaresborough and Barnsley schools all adapted their delivery when schools were shut by creating participatory and accessible resources which were circulated to pupils at home via virtual learning platforms. Our ensembles recorded a digital version of their participatory concerts which were then shared with all of the special schools in the region. We delivered workshops online during a 10-week residency in a Sheffield school and a 4-week residency in Northumberland. A year-long residency in Goole was redesigned as a hybrid model. Building on new skills we were able to develop new projects, including a series of films connecting the indoors to the outdoors through music and a concert series for families which was streamed via local libraries.
Deborah Welch NE Branch Director
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ENGLAND – NORTH WEST
As we moved our work online, the musicians had to learn new skills in order to produce recorded concerts and present live sessions for children in school, families at home and older people in residential care. Their level of their resourcefulness and creativity was truly remarkable. This was captured in four particularly memorable moments from the year:
The North West branch works regularly with many fantastic partners across Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Shropshire and Birmingham.
These include special education school settings, hospitals, residential care providers, NHS organisations, music education hubs, arts venues, other music charities and regional funders. Taking time to get to know our partners and understand the needs of those they support is key to the successful delivery of hundreds of bespoke performances and musical sessions each year for children and adults experiencing disabling barriers, social isolation or poor health.
May 2020: We piloted our first online classroom music sessions with long-standing partner Newlands School in Rochdale. Determined that children should continue to access live musical experiences, the school’s Music Co-ordinator and their Live Music Now musician-in-residence, Paul Exton-McGuinness, experimented with Zoom at a time when schools were only just getting to grips with online learning. Together, they worked out a way to enable children in school and at home to take part in weekly musical activities during lockdown.
The talented Live Music Now musicians are our other key partners, delivering work across the region. This year, 32 musicians from 16 solo acts and groups were on our roster. Little did anyone know that we would ask them to adapt to a completely new way of working!
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October 2020: We received the news from the Arts Co-ordinator at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital that our partnership programme Musical Mentoring could resume. Wearing full PPE, six North West musicians returned to the hospital to provide personalised, uplifting sessions for individual patients in their rooms. We believe this was the only in-person music programme to restart in a UK hospital during the year.
November 2020: We announced our
intention during the Cheshire and Merseyside Baby Week to develop the Lullaby Project – pairing mothers experiencing perinatal mental health challenges with Live Music Now musicians to create a personalised lullaby for their baby. In partnership with
our partners (Improving Me, the Cheshire and Merseyside Women and Children’s NHS partnership), we recorded a podcast with the Lullaby team from New York’s Carnegie Hall, originators of the programme. The Liverpoolbased Rise Trio and Trustee Professor Adam Ockelford presented online sessions highlighting the important role that carefully planned music programmes can play in early childhood development.
February 2020: We launched Musical Mondays , a new series of live online concerts for schools – in partnership with Resonate, Liverpool’s Music Education Hub – to support the wellbeing of pupils during the busy school day. Our first two
online concerts performed by A4 Brass and folk duo Filkin’s Drift were enjoyed by thousands of children and young people in special education settings and primary schools across Merseyside.
Despite the challenges faced by our partners, project participants and musicians during the year, it has been invigorating to innovate through our working practices and to find new ways to connect more people in our region with live music.
Karen Irwin Director, North West Amy Hughes Project Manager, North West
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ENGLAND – SOUTH WEST
The South West branch of Live Music Now covers a large and diverse area, encompassing more rural counties like Devon and Somerset and large cities such as Bristol.
The needs we address in the region are equally varied: in rural areas, poor transport and a lack of cultural opportunities mean that many people have limited chances to hear live music, while Bristol has a thriving cultural scene but all the challenges of a modern city, including social and health inequalities.
Our work in the region is equally wide in scope, and working in partnership is very important in delivering work which is relevant and valuable to our audiences. Our main partners in the region include hospitals in Bristol and Bath; music education hubs in Devon, Somerset and Dorset; dementia-support charities in Devon; and care providers in Bristol and Gloucestershire, amongst many others.
Our work with disabled children and young people with additional learning needs usually involves musicians going on tour across special educational schools in Devon, Somerset and Dorset, as well as longer creative projects lasting from three days up to a year. In 2020-2021 this work was largely impossible, and we worked with music hubs to find alternative ways of reaching schools. During the first lockdown, we organised one-to-one workshops for children at home, coordinated through schools and supported by the hubs, including a special project with Victoria Education College in Poole which used beatboxing to help children with speech development, lung capacity and other physical skills. When schools reopened to all pupils in the Autumn, but remained closed to visitors, Live Music Now planned online concerts, and Musical Mondays (bringing musicians to classroom screens, via Zoom Webinar) were born. We were also able to move larger projects online, including a songwriting project with Combe Pafford school in Torbay.
Going online with our work within the social and healthcare sectors initially proved challenging, and we were aware of the unprecedented situation which our partners in hospitals and care homes were facing. As it became apparent that the pandemic would not be short-lived, we
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talked to our partners to find ways of bringing joy through music, without placing additional strain on staff. Musicians made films for care homes at which they had previously performed and Live Music Now distributed DVDs through local charities for people who had previously attended community-based music sessions. North Bristol NHS Trust commissioned us to
produce a series of films and events to celebrate Black History Month, and subsequently initiated weekly online concerts for staff and the wider hospital community, as well as for streaming within their vaccination centre. These projects were all carefully programmed to offer audiences the opportunity to take a moment to pause, relax and reflect. When restrictions eased
in the summer, we were able to offer outdoor concerts to care homes in Bristol, and residents were as delighted to see and hear musicians in person as the musicians were to play in front of audiences again.
Developing a hybrid model of working – in which online performance and workshops sit alongside those delivered in-person – has offered unexpected benefits to the South West branch. With most of our musicians based in Bristol, reaching more remote parts of the region has always been challenging, but by combining online and in-person delivery we can now offer longer-term projects to schools and other venues across the South West. The hard work and talent of our musicians, as well as the commitment of our partners to bringing great musical experiences to people whose lives have been particularly impacted by the pandemic, mean that we are now in a strong position to grow and develop our offer throughout the region.
Sophie Dunn Director Anna MacGregor Project Manager
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ENGLAND – SOUTH EAST
their families. We are incredibly proud of how quickly our musicians adapted to delivering high quality interactive sessions online, and grateful for the flexibility of our funders who allowed us to repurpose funds to develop our online offer and resources.
The South East branch of Live Music Now includes Greater London and spans from Norfolk and Suffolk in the East over to Oxfordshire in the West, and to Kent and East Sussex in the South.
Despite the difficulties of the pandemic, the South East branch delivered 183 sessions during 2019-2020 (a reduction from over 800 in the previous year) with our pool of 53 ensembles made up of 100 exceptionally and talented and versatile musicians. We reached participants in special schools and care homes across multiple London boroughs and around the South East region including in Norfolk, Kent, Middlesex, Bedfordshire and Peterborough.
Musicians Nicola Lyons and Maz O’Connor both undertook year-long residencies at special schools in London as part of their Inspire Level 3 training. These residencies were able to continue successfully online with a mixture of 1:1 and class live video sessions. New video resources were also produced for special schools for use at home and in school, including a video for The Village School in Brent for their One World Week.
The pandemic offered an opportunity to innovate and look at our work with new eyes and inspiration. In consultation with participants, partners and musicians we developed a new online music offer for care homes, special schools, disabled children and
“Both the live stream and residency so far has been very successful. Although we miss having M-J and Tom here in person, I would definitely recommend the live stream when
other options are not available to help to lift the spirits and bring people together with music.”
Lifestyle Coordinator, Park Avenue Care Home
Care home residencies were also able to continue effectively online including Ensemble Hesperi’s twelve-week residency at Park Avenue Care home. You can read more about the residency here. Singer-songwriter Zoe Wren’s residency at Queen’s Oak care centre in Peckham was also live-streamed. Pre-recorded music videos were created for and well used by a wide range of care homes.
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“The [pre-recorded] concert is fantastic- the children will love it! Lovely interactive ideas, great sound quality. We are VERY happy with this, thank you! AND all the other new films too. I am so grateful for all this work. Due to the need to operate in bubbles when we return in September, a certain amount of our music provision will be virtual and live streamed still so all these resources will be really useful.”
“Online sessions have been great to keep giving the residents the chance to hear live music and to sing along and dance. I missed being able to move around the room and interact individually with people, but Marilyn was a really vital part of the session as she went around and did just that, encouraging more dancing and singing along. Virtual sessions are giving me a fresh appreciation of the importance of having staff who are on board with the project and its aims.”
The Village School, Brent
Rosanna Kwok Acting Branch Director 2020-2021 Ruth Mulvey Branch Director (from Sept 2021 )
Zoe Wren, LMN Musician
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NORTHERN IRELAND
Live Music Now’s collective response to the pandemic was rapid and innovative and kickstarted an intense (and unplanned) period of Research and Development. New delivery models were underpinned with evolving, yet robust, guidance and procedures to safe-
Live Music Now Northern Ireland currently has 18-20 musicians on its books and delivers an average of 180 sessions to 7,000 people each year, in a wide range of settings.
Our musicians can be found sitting by the fire of a community cottage overlooking Lough Foyle, in a day centre in Belfast’s most deprived innercity areas or as a resident in a special school in Strabane. The focus, as it is across the organisation, is including participants in their own spaces.
This year was unique, and the achievements of the Northern Ireland branch (the smallest of the UK branches), are all the more astonishing for it. We are incredibly proud of our Northern Ireland musicians and colleagues. Having started the year wondering if there’d still be a Live Music Now branch, we finished 2020-2021 stronger and with increased support from our stakeholders.
guard our musicians, our communities and our participants. For this, we would like to extend huge thanks to our colleagues. We supported our musicians during the crisis through new skills development, provision of equipment, access to new online platforms and paid employment.
Live Music Now Northern Ireland piloted a range of methods to engage our key audiences. Of particular note were the one-to-one sessions for children and their families, delivered over Zoom in lockdown, and described by one parent as “amazing, so much more than I expected” and by another as “a lifeline in lockdown”.
In the early months of the pandemic, we tried anything and everything as we engaged in brainstorming sessions with project partners. We flexed creatively, sometimes arriving at lo-fi solutions, sometimes having to throw out unworkable ideas, and sometimes arriving at pure gold. One brainstorm, on how to continue reaching older people living with dementia who had enjoyed taking part in a choir at their day centre, generated the creative solution of printing greetings cards with a picture of the musicians and enclosing a personal message and song sheets.
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Our musicians took the challenge of the pandemic and ran with it: producing personalised birthday videos; playing outside as older people entered their day centres; performing outdoors to participants who watched from their windows and delivering remote performances online. Musicians were thrilled with the creativity and inventiveness of our offering:
“I continue to be in awe of how much support we get from Live Music Now, in particular throughout this pandemic.”
Hannah Murray, Live Music Now Northern Ireland musician, May 2021
Through the digital output of musicians across the Live Music Now network, we were thrilled to facilitate access to live music for isolated people across Northern Ireland as never before.
However, from our Remote Readiness survey, we realised that many care settings weren’t set up to access music online, so our next move saw us producing hundreds of music DVDs which we distributed to 200 care settings and 150 individuals in the community, reaching in excess of 6,000 people. The solution sounds simple, but the process started with a time-
consuming home-trial featuring a DVD burner and some padded envelopes, before we ended up shipping professionally-produced DVDs through a mail fulfilment house. Great oaks from little acorns grow.
In addition to this, Live Music Now musicians produced 36 short films and delivered almost 140 online or outdoor in-person sessions, reaching over 2,000 people at a time when we had initially thought that live performance would be impossible.
The Northern Ireland branch had a number of ‘firsts’ among Live Music Now. Deirdre Galway
and Conor Lamb produced the first “Pandemic Diary”, which went on to become a series on the Live Music Now website (highlighted in “Our Musicians” section of this report). Deirdre and Conor also created some of the earliest short films for broadcast, and we remain humbled by the vision and creativity of the series, combining visuals and music in breathtaking harmony, capturing the poignancy of an everchanging world.
You can see the full series of their short films here: bit.ly/3Hu8EAO
We are also proud of our work piloting digital delivery of live music to older men at Apple Blossom Lodge. This resulted in a richly-layered model of working which provides us with learnings that will inform future projects.
We couldn’t have done it all without our funders, who showed understanding and flexibility to enable us to innovate at pace. We emerge stronger, with new tools and renewed confidence to meet the ongoing demands of a changed world.
Alice Lewis Director, Northern Ireland
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WALES
When the pandemic hit, Live Music Now Wales was at the start of delivering three new Live Music in Care residencies in care settings in South Wales.
This was due to be the start of the roll-out of a wonderful programme of ongoing music opportunities for older people and those living with dementia across our nation, following our launch at the Senedd the previous autumn. This project came to a sudden halt, and whilst we have not abandoned our plans, we are waiting for restrictions to lift so we can start live delivery again.
Of immediate concern were our partners and beneficiaries who were isolated and whose challenging circumstances were exacerbated by Covid-19. Our first thought was: “How can we help them?” The 50+ freelance musicians who deliver such exceptional work for us in Wales found their lives turned upside down in a matter of days. We had a responsibility to keep them afloat, both mentally and financially. Without
musicians, Live Music Now would not be able to carry out its work. We sent out wellbeing packs to all our musicians and set up weekly online “Cuppa and Catch Up” mornings for support, which ran all year and developed into additional training opportunities in areas such as mindfulness.
“I found out about LMN Wales’ free music sessions for children with mental health challenges at the start of the pandemic and my son’s love of music was reignited with some fantastic sessions, which was amazing as he had stopped singing and playing (after the death of his father).”
Beth Phillips
It was time to think outside the box and to stretch the meaning of “live” within this new world. Several funders were quick to offer funding pots to support work done during the pandemic and we applied swiftly. Existing funders were also happy for us to adapt our original delivery to fit within the current restrictions. Everyone started looking online. “Zoom” and “Teams” became the new buzzwords.
Alongside our Live Music Now UK colleagues, we commissioned our musicians to record their own concerts remotely, which we then shared online with care settings, schools and those at home. It was a learning curve for us all. Musicians learned filming, editing and other technological skills as they adapted their concert delivery for a recorded performance. The finished resources were a lifeline to
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musicians and to their audiences, and enabled us to continue to celebrate the value and importance of music and Live Music Now, with almost 100 videos shared via YouTube.
Despite the negatives brought on by the pandemic, there were several positives we will hold onto as we look to next year.
Already, we have taken our recorded concert series from “at home” to a professional studio base, where we have increased production values and taken the tech pressure off musicians, enabling them to focus on performing. The 1-to-1 live Zoom sessions, started in summer 2020, in which we paired musicians up with families with children with additional needs or mental health challenges were such a success that they have grown to a UK wide Live Music Now initiative Including Me . This programme was nominated for awards with the RPS, Arts and Business Cymru and the Family Arts Campaign. Our 30 autumnal pop up Doorstep Gigs in communities across Wales enabled musicians and audiences to connect again, bringing smiles to faces and connecting isolated neighbours as we celebrated our 30th year of Live Music Now in Wales.
Our National Lottery Heritage Fund project
Unlocked/Datgloi developed song-writing skills in established musicians, and became a historical record of the pandemic. The project also worked to bring people from ten different community groups across five Welsh counties together despite the ongoing lockdown restrictions. Furthermore, we have embedded musicians’ wellbeing at the heart of our training and development opportunities.
In a year when many struggled to keep afloat, Live Music Now Wales ended its 30th year with its highest ever turnover and reach, delivering over 600 live music sessions around the country via
the internet and through outdoor performances. This would not have been possible without the creativity and hard work of our partners, staff and musicians, or the funding from the National Lottery, Moondance Foundation and Arts Council Wales, which we are extremely grateful for.
We are proud of our musicians and staff for rising to the challenge and are more sure than ever before that music does indeed matter.
Claire Cressey Director Heather Chandler
Project Coordinator: Health & Wellbeing
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CYMRU
Ar ddechrau’r pandemig, roedd Live Music Now Cymru ar fin dechrau cynnig tri pherfformiad newydd Cerddoriaeth Fyw mewn Gofal mewn cartrefi gofal yn Ne Cymru.
Yn dilyn ein lansiad yn y Senedd yr Hydref blaenorol, roedd hyn i fod i ddechrau treiglad rhaglen wych o gyfleoedd cerddorol parhaus ar draws y wlad i bobl hŷn a’r rhai sy’n byw gyda dementia,. Daeth y prosiect hwn i ddiwedd sydyn ac, er nad ydym wedi anghofio ein cynlluniau, rydyn ni’n aros am i’r cyfyngiadau godi er mwyn cael dechrau cynnal y cyngherddau byw unwaith eto.
Ein pryder pennaf oedd ein partneriaid a’n buddiolwyr oedd wedi’u hynysu a’r rhai lle’r oedd eu hamgylchiadau heriol yn gwaethygu oherwydd Covid-19. Ein hystyriaeth gyntaf oedd: “Sut gallwn ni eu helpu?” Roedd y 50+ o gerddorion llawrydd sy’n cyflwyno gwaith anghyffredin i ni yng Nghymru’n gweld eu bywydau’n cael eu troi ben i waered mewn mater o ddyddiau. Ein cyfrifoldeb ni oedd eu cadw’n ddiogel, yn feddyliol ac yn ariannol. Heb gerddorion, ni fyddai Live Music Now’n gallu cyflawni ei waith.
Roeddem yn anfon pecynnau llesiant allan i’n cerddorion ac yn sefydlu boreau wythnosol “Paned a Sgwrsio” a gynhaliwyd drwy gydol y flwyddyn er mwyn rhoi cefnogaeth iddyn nhw. Datblygodd y rhain yn gyfleoedd hyfforddiant ychwanegol mewn meysydd fel ymwybyddiaeth ofalgar.
“Ar ddechrau’r pandemig, dysgais am sesiynau cerddoriaeth am ddim LMN Cymru ar gyfer plant â heriau iechyd meddwl. Ail-daniwyd cariad fy mab tuag at gerddoriaeth gan rai sesiynau anhygoel. Roedd hyn yn wyrthiol gan ei fod wedi peidio â chanu a chwarae (ar ôl marwolaeth ei dad).”
Beth Phillips
Roedd yn amser meddwl y tu allan i’r bocs ac ymestyn ystyr “byw” o fewn y byd newydd hwn. Roedd nifer o arianwyr yn barod iawn i gynnig symiau o arian i gefnogi gwaith a wnaed yn ystod y pandemig a gwnaethom gais ar unwaith. Roedd arianwyr presennol hefyd yn hapus i ni addasu ein trefniadau gwreiddiol i addasu o fewn y cyfyngiadau presennol. Roedd pawb yn dechrau edrych ar-lein ac roedd “Zoom” a “Teams” yn datblygu’n eiriau cyfarwydd ar wefusau pawb.
Ochr yn ochr â’n cydweithwyr yn Live Music Now y DU, roedden ni’n comisiynu ein cerddorion i recordio eu cyngherddau eu hunain o bell. Roedden ni wedyn yn eu rhannu ar-lein gyda lleoliadau gofal, ysgolion a gyda’r rhai yn eu cartrefi. Roedd yn ffordd dda i ni i gyd ddysgu. Roedd cerddorion yn dysgu sut i ffilmio, golygu a sgiliau technolegol eraill wrth iddyn nhw addasu eu cyngherddau ar gyfer perfformiadau wedi’u recordio.
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Roedd yr adnoddau gorffenedig yn llinell fywyd i gerddorion ac i’w cynulleidfaoedd ac yn ein galluogi ni i barhau i ddathlu gwerth a phwysigrwydd cerddoriaeth Live Music Now. Rhannwyd tua 100 fideo dros YouTube.
Er waetha’r pethau negyddol a ddaeth gyda’r pandemig, roedd sawl peth positif y byddwn ni’n dal i’w cadw er mwyn eu hystyried y flwyddyn nesaf.
Yn barod, rydym wedi mynd â’n cyfres o gyngherddau a recordiwyd “yn y cartref” i stiwdio broffesiynol lle’r ydym wedi cynyddu gwerthoedd cynhyrchu a chymryd pwysau’r ochr dechnegol oddi ar y cerddorion. Mae hyn yn eu galluogi i ganolbwyntio ar berfformio. Roedd y sesiynau Zoom byw 1-i-1, a ddechreuwyd yn ystod haf 2020 - sesiynau paru cerddorion gyda theuluoedd â phlant ag anghenion ychwanegol neu heriau iechyd meddwl, - yn gymaint o lwyddiant fel eu bod wedi cynyddu i fod yn fenter Live Music Now ar draws y DU sef Including Me. Enwebwyd y rhaglen hon ar gyfer gwobrau gyda’r RPS, Celfyddydau a Busnes Cymru a’r Ymgyrch Celfyddydau Teuluoedd. Roedd ein Gigiau Carreg Drws (Doorstep Gigs) mewn cymunedau ar draws Cymru’n galluogi cerddorion a chynulleidfaoedd i gysylltu eto. Daeth hyn â
gwên yn ôl i wynebau a chysylltu cymdogion ynysig â’i gilydd wrth i ni Live Music Now Cymru ddathlu ein pen blwydd yn 30.
Roedd ein prosiect Arian Loteri Etifeddiaeth Genedlaethol Unlocked/Datgloi yn datblygu sgiliau ysgrifennu caneuon mewn cerddorion sydd wedi ennill eu plwyf a datblygu’n gofnod hanesyddol o’r pandemig. Roedd y prosiect hefyd yn gweithio i ddod â phobl o ddeg grŵp cymunedol gwahanol ar draws pum sir yng Nghymru at ei gilydd, er waethaf cyfyngiadau parhaus y cyfnod clo. Hefyd, rydym wedi gallu cynnwys llesiant cerddorion yn ganolog yn ein
cyfleoedd hyfforddiant a datblygiad.
Rydym yn falch o’n cerddorion a’n staff am godi i’r her hwn ac, yn fwy sicr nag erioed o’r blaen, bod cerddoriaeth yn wir yn bwysig.
Claire Cressey Cyfarwyddwr Heather Chandler Cydlynydd Prosiect: Iechyd a Llesiant
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FUNDING & FINANCE
Funding and Fundraising ..............................................53 Introduction to the Accounts ......................................55 Company Information & Financial Review .......57
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FUNDING & FUNDRAISING
Hannah Wood, Director of Development
funds, which enabled us to continue reaching our communities online at a time when the connective power of music was needed more than ever.
Live Music Now is very grateful to receive funding from several general Trusts and Foundations as well as individual donors, many of whom provide support on a regular basis or phase their gifts over several years. This helps us plan for the future, refine our approach and work in partnership with donors to increase our impact over time, according to their aims and objectives, as well as our own Strategic Intent.
For their continued and significant support we would like to give special thanks to: For their continued and significant support we would like to give special thanks to:
Arts Council England, Arts Council Northern Ireland, Arts Council Wales, Clare Milne Trust, City Bridge Trust, Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, Department for Communities, Derry City and Strabane District Council, Duke of Devonshire‘s Charitable Trust, Grey Court Trust, Gwent High Sheriff’s Community Fund, Haberdashers Co, Headley Trust, Heritage Lottery Fund, John Lewis Partnership, John Lyon’s Charity, LNER, Mayfield Valley Arts Trust, Mrs Pat Ripley’s Charitable Trust, NYMAZ, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Sir James Knott Trust, Sir William Boreman Foundation, The Moondance
The pandemic had a significant impact on Live Music Now’s finances with a dramatic drop in earned income and donations from live events, as well as paused grant-giving and a redirection of funds to alternative causes. However, many of our funders offered additional emergency funding, or permitted us extra flexibility in how we used their funds, allowing us to respond quickly to the unexpected events brought on by restrictions. We are especially thankful for these
Foundation, The Welsh National Lottery, The Whitaker Charitable Trust, The Rank Foundation, The Rayne Foundation, The Singer Foundation, The Stoller Charitable Trust, The Utley Foundation, The Valentine Charitable Trust, Ulster Garden Villages, Westminster Council, Youth Music.
We’d like to also thank the members of the public who donated after attending an event, watching our online resources or seeing one of our fundraising campaigns. We are grateful for the generosity of all our supporters, including those who donated in memory of a loved one,
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hosted a fundraiser or made an anonymous gift. Whether your donation pays for a cup of tea for an isolated older person or covers a whole series of concerts for children in special schools, every pound has the potential to make a real difference to people’s lives.
Buchanan, Laura Hinder, Libby Burgess, Lyn Pickering, Mark Loveday, Peter Knapp, Peter Niven, Phil Rowles, Rebecca Rowe, Richard Wilkins, Rosemary Butler, Rozi Thomson.
Musicians’ Hardship Fund
As well as having a disproportionate effect on the communities we serve, the pandemic was particularly tough on our freelance musicians, many of whom lost their sole source of income overnight when live performances were cancelled. We would like to thank our
For their kind contributions in 2020, we thank: Anthony Travis, Cameron Cheek, Caroline Davis, Caroline Howard-Spitzer, Claudia Marx, Colin Wood, David Swann, Gillian Green, Hannah I’Anson, James Williams, Jane Roberts, Kate
Trustees for rallying together to set up a £15,000 hardship fund to cover full cancellation fees until the end of April 2020 where projects finances could not, and to support those in significant financial difficulty as a result of the pandemic. Our highly skilled workforce of professional musicians is critical to our work and we could not operate without them, and we are so thankful that we were able to offer support in this way.
Team fundraising
Throughout December 2020, the Live Music Now team took part in their own festive fundraiser. Each embarked on a personal challenge involving the number 100, asking friends, families and supporters to sponsor their efforts. Challenges ranged from the musical (playing 100 piano scales, singing 100 Christmas carols) to the active (100 minutes of dancing, 100 sit-ups a day, walking 100,000 steps), to the creative (wearing 100 items of clothes and doing a 100 metre sprint) to the environmentally conscious (collecting 100 pieces of litter). The team raised over £3,500, while also having a lot of fun. Live Music Now wishes to extend its thanks to everyone who supported them.
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INTRODUCTION TO THE ACCOUNTS
Live Music Now CEO Janet Fischer
However, we cannot underemphasise the impact of the pandemic on the people and settings we work with. This has resulted in Live Music Now retaining a significant level of Restricted Reserves related to projects we were unable to deliver and those projects that continued involve an increased amount of management to protect our musicians and our participants.
The year ending 31 March 2021 was a challenge on many fronts, not least financially. Live Music Now experienced an instant cessation of all earned revenue alongside venues that immediately closed, either due to the lockdowns or to protect residents and frontline staff.
The adaptation of our services and projects began immediately, with new delivery methods commencing a mere 17 days after the first lockdown. It was essential that we were able to continue to support our communities throughout the pandemic as we knew that they would be amongst the worst affected.
We saw a decrease of over 50% in the fees paid to musicians during the year, without a similar decrease in project delivery costs. This speaks to the increase in project management to deliver our work, and the reduction in the number of sessions we were able to deliver due to restrictions or capacity issues within our settings. This complexity will persist, and it will be essential that the organisation secures additional core support to continue its work.
We are very fortunate to have a close relationship with many of our funders. Their generosity and flexibility enabled us to repurpose grants, explore new methods of delivery and cover our ongoing core costs.
Fundraising was also challenging, as many funders diverted their grant allocations to Covid-recovery funds. This made raising money for new projects difficult, and without the flexibility shown by existing funders pivoting our work would have been severely curtailed. However, there were also some highlights in our fundraising, from the whole staff team getting involved in LMN100 and finding some truly inventive challenges, to the Board of Trustees donating a musicians’ hardship fund, covering all cancelled performance fees and enabling one-off grants to musicians experiencing financial difficulties due to the pandemic.
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also require additional support, many of them have been without regular paid employment for months. Additional training, mentoring and pastoral support will be necessary to ensure they feel confident and able to work with our communities.
Our Restricted Reserves will be drawn down over the next year as we seek to support both our participants but also the workforces in health, Adult Social Care and education who have been delivering in extreme circumstances for months. Our musicians’ workforce will
We are very grateful for the vital investment of COVID recovery funds from funders including the Arts Councils of Wales and Northern Ireland, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the Headley Foundation, the City of Westminster, and other regional funders. These stabilised our operations and prevented critical losses in our small staff team. Importantly, they also enabled us to progress our Diversity and Inclusion journey, and to ask difficult questions about how we would rebuild and renew our organisation and work.
Despite the challenges, we are optimistic about the future for Live Music Now. As part of ensuring our future sustainability the Board of Trustees has committed to investing in diversifying our income and focus on building our freestanding reserves, balanced against the very present need to invest in our staff team, supporting their resilience and wellbeing, and opening capacity within our organisation. We will work alongside our partners and funders to continue to serve our communities and to ensure our organisation is future-fit.
The Show Must Go On Webinar with Live Music Now musicians and staff: June 2020
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TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT
The trustees are pleased to submit their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements (Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act 2011), the Memorandum and Articles of Association and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP 2015) issued by the Charity Commission.
Live Music Now is a registered charity in England and Wales (273596).
Reference & Administrative Details of the Charity, its Trustees & Advisers:
Charity Name LIVE MUSIC NOW LIMITED (Live Music Now)
Charity Registration number 273596 (England and Wales) Company Registration number 1312283
Registered address: Live Music Now 46 Montclair Drive Liverpool L18 0HB (updated October 2021)
Directors and Trustees
Members of the Board of Trustees are the directors of the charitable company (‘the charity’) and are trustees for the purposes of charity law. Throughout this report members are collectively referred to as the trustees. Those serving on the date this report was approved are:
Sir Vernon Ellis (Chairman)
Ms Kate Buchanan (resigned December 2020) Dame Rosemary Butler OBE (resigned June 2020) Ms Lowri Clement (appointed September 2020) Lady Sandra Jesse Fell (resigned June 2020) Dr Peter Freedman
Mrs Alexandra Holford (resigned October 2021) Ms Colleen Keck
Mrs Caroline Lllewellyn
Mr Gavin Graham Robert McEwan (resigned September 2020)
Mr Simon Millward
Ms Maz O’Connor (appointed June 2020, resigned October 2021)
Professor Adam Ockelford
Mrs Amanda Platt (resigned October 2021) Mrs Norma Sinte (appointed June 2020) Mr David Todd (resigned October 2021) Lady Charlotte Tyrwhitt
Patron HRH The Prince of Wales Founder President Sir Ian Stoutzker Chairman Sir Vrenon Ellis
Chief Executive Officer
Ms Janet Fischer FRSA (appointed January 2021)
Executive Director
Mr Evan Dawson (resigned June 2020) Mrs Nina Swann (acting from June 2020, appointed January 2021)
Company Secretary
Mrs Emily Roberts (appointed June 2020)
Independent Examiner Kate Taylor FCA
Simpson Wreford LLP Wellesley House Duke of Wellington Avenue Royal Arsenal London SE18 6SS
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Bankers
NatWest, PO Box 1357, 169 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 5BT
In addition to the main central fund banks above, each branch has its own banking arrangements.
Structure, Governance and Management Constitution
Live Music Now Limited (“LMN”) is a charity governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association incorporated on 3 May 1977 and revised on 10 January 2006, 10 March 2008, 6 March 2012, 3 April 2017 and 7 March 2019, and is constituted as a company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital.
As of 31 March 2021, 12 members had guaranteed £1 each in the event of the winding up of the company.
Selection of Trustees
The first trustees were appointed by a majority of the subscribers to the Memorandum and Articles of Association. Every trustee has the power to
nominate another trustee who must then be approved by the trustees. The minimum number of trustees is 5 and the maximum is 20.
Induction and Training of Trustees
Potential new trustees are invited to attend a trustees’ meeting as observer prior to consenting to be put forward for appointment as a trustee. Once appointed, new trustees are provided with an induction pack which includes a copy of the Constitution, an outline of the charity’s organisational structure with a description of trustees’ roles and responsibilities, background information and internal documents relating to the principal activities of the charity. New trustees are supported during their induction by the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Operations Manager and relevant Branch/Strategic Director. Relevant external training opportunities for trustees are brought to the attention of trustees by the Chief Executive.
Organisational Structure
Live Music Now Limited operates on a national, regional and local level and is comprised of four English branches covering North East, North West, South West and South East England and national branches in Northern Ireland and Wales. The registered office was, until October 2021, in
London where the acting Executive Director was based, and has been moved to Liverpool in line with the charity’s new strategic intent.
As of the 1 April 2013, LMN Scotland operates as a devolved charity registered in Scotland. Governance and finance of LMN Scotland is the responsibility of the LMN Scotland Board of Trustees, and the Scottish charity continues to work within the framework of Live Music Now.
Chaired by Sir Vernon Ellis, the charity’s trustees take final responsibility for the general and financial wellbeing of the scheme.
Sir Ian Stoutzker was appointed Founder President of the charity on his retirement from the Board in 2018.
Objectives & Activities
The trustees meet at least three times a year, the AGM held not more than 15 months after the holding of the last preceding AGM to approve the independently examined accounts. The Chief Executive Officer and the Executive Director are responsible for the management and support of the team of Directors; overview of the financial position nationally, including branches; management
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of central tasks; development of the scheme nationally and development and coordination of national policies; reporting to the Board of Trustees on behalf of the team of Directors. The Senior Management Team (comprising of the CEO, Executive Director, Development Director and Strategic Directors) are also responsible for raising funds to support the core costs of the organisation, reporting to the Chairman and Board of Trustees.
Two Strategic Directors lead the development of Live Music Now’s work in the areas of Wellbeing, Children & Young People, and Musicians’ Development delivered through the branch network across the UK.
Each branch is run by a Director. Branch Directors are responsible for raising funds to support activities of the charity in their region, and overall financial and project management of their branch. They are supported by a network of voluntary advisors, grouped by branch into committees, chaired by the Trustee based in their region.
The Operations Manager supports the Senior Management Team and coordinates external and internal communications and information systems, and the role holder is the stated Data
Protection contact. International activity across the UK (including Scotland) is coordinated by the International Development Director who is currently also the Director of LMN Scotland.
Risk Assessment
The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, in particular those related to the operations and finances of the charity and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate our exposure to the major risks. This assessment is undertaken on an annual basis.
The major risk to which the charity is exposed is a failure in raising sustainable core income, and the Trustees are exploring new streams of fundraising to address this.
The impact of COVID-19 during the year was very significant. The Senior Management Team reviewed the ongoing risks and issues monthly and Finance and Risk Committee reviewed the ongoing risks and mitigations at each meeting. In particular:
• Ability to meet need during the ongoing Covid pandemic due to settings needing to restrict in-person visits to their sites, gaps in digital capacity in those settings, and the changing
government restrictions. The charity moved much of its operation online and will continue to deliver projects in a blended model of online and face to face in the future.
• Loss of earned income for the charity due to a decrease in physical visits. The Charity was fortunate to benefit from Covid-19 response funds and Job Retention Support that enabled it to avoid any staff cuts during the year.
• Increase in project management time, due to changing restrictions, impacting on Branch capacity.
• Staff wellbeing and burnout, including in our musicians’ workforce. The charity, through support from the DCMS Cultural Recovery Fund, implemented a musicians’ wellbeing and training programme, alongside increased provision for staff support and training.
Objects
The objects for which the Company is established are:
- To advance the education of the public and promote their health and wellbeing, by providing high quality interactive music performances, in
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particular among those members of the public who would otherwise be deprived of the benefit of performances of live music and other performing arts.
- To advance the musical education of musicians at the outset of their careers as performing artists by providing them with support, specialist training and the opportunities to perform and work in public.
In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, including the guidance on public benefit and fee charging. Live Music Now relies on grants and the income from fees and charges to cover its operating costs. In setting the level of fees, charges and concessions, the trustees give careful consideration to the accessibility of Live Music Now activities for those on low incomes but balances this against the necessity to pay the musicians on our scheme a living wage, in line with the Musician Union’s guidance ‘Fair Pay for Fair Play’.
We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular,
the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.
Aims
Live Music Now aims to provide high quality participatory performances and workshops in community settings, especially for those who are normally excluded from opportunities to experience live music through ill health, disability, isolation or poverty. Live Music Now activities are intended to be entertaining, educational and therapeutic; the majority of its work is delivered within projects featuring regular music sessions and working over the medium to long term to provide lasting benefits for participants.
It also provides a wide variety of paid performing experiences for exceptionally talented professional musicians. Musicians are supported through an induction and training programme to equip them with the necessary skills to act as music leaders, both during their work with Live Music Now and subsequently, in the wider profession.
In January 2017, Live Music Now launched its new 5-year strategy and business plan, entitled “Bringing Music to Life”. Over the coming years, Live Music Now will continue to deliver over 3,000
interactive music sessions throughout the UK each year, focussing on three areas of strategy, with five key aims in each. The plan includes detailed aims and targets in each of our three areas of strategy, for each of the years from 2017 to 2022. It can be downloaded from the Live Music Now website at www.livemusicnow.org.uk/ accounts-strategic-intent/
In summary, it includes the following:
• LMN aims to expand its wellbeing programme, working with leading care sector partners. We will ensure our work reaches those most in need and is based on the very latest neurological evidence concerning music and dementia.
• LMN aims to expand its programme for children with SEND and their families. Currently we are involved in 15% of special schools, and our aim is to increase this to 25% by 2022.
• LMN will maintain at least 300 musicians on its scheme, each at the start of their professional lives. They will all receive a high standard of care from audition, through to induction, specialist training, mentoring and further development. We will provide an even wider range of specialist training options.
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Strategies for implementation Project Delivery
• LMN delivers projects of local, regional and national significance through its UK branch network, targeting two priority beneficiary groups to maximise impact:
o Wellbeing/older people o Special Educational Needs/children
• In addition, LMN branches respond to local need in devising specific programmes to provide access to the benefits of live music for other disadvantaged groups, such as isolated rural communities, refugees, those living with mental illness, the homeless and adults and young people in the justice system.
• LMN has prioritised the development of longterm, progressive projects with partners, and programmes of repeat visits with established settings, to maximise the impact of live music for our beneficiary groups.
• Trustees work closely with Directors as appropriate to support and develop activity. • Trustees review summary reports of branches’ progress on a regular basis. Live Music Now branches have scope to respond to local circumstances and funding opportunities to
deliver projects with the 2 beneficiary groups and develop new work.
Musicians
• Musicians are recruited from a wide variety of musical genres and backgrounds, and selected through a national audition programme to ensure high quality.
• Auditions, being a significant central activity, are coordinated by the Musicians’ Development Director and Auditions Director, with direct support from regional Branch Directors.
• Musicians joining the scheme are taken through an induction process and offered training opportunities in order to provide continual professional development in the area of music leadership. Training, also a significant central activity, is led by the Musicians’ Development Director, with specialist input from Strategic Directors.
Monitoring
• Live Music Now monitors its activities closely in order to be as accountable as possible, and to use feedback from musicians and participants to inform future work.
• Monitoring of branches’ activity in terms of recruitment, performances/workshops delivered, musicians’ fitness for purpose, training offered and development of new projects (principally through the Annual Review process) aims to provide the organisation with an overview of activity, areas of weakness and opportunities for development.
• The Strategic Directors lead on the development of new monitoring and evaluation tools to embed expertise and inform future delivery.
• Policies are reviewed annually with regard to Safeguarding Children, Working with Vulnerable Adults, Cultural Diversity and Equal Opportunities, Disability/Access and Data Protection in order to work as effectively as possible with our beneficiaries.
Promoting the charity
• The charity works to raise its public profile, with a view to supporting fundraising and public awareness of its activities and may from time to time employ PR consultants to assist on specific projects.
• A regular e-newsletter and social media communications are produced and managed
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centrally with additional printed materials relating to specific areas of work.
• The charity fosters relationships with key partners including NHS trusts, education authorities and independent agencies in order to develop new areas of work, led by the Strategic Directors in concert with the network of Branch Directors.
• Quarterly budgets and financial reports, showing branch performance as well as consolidated figures, are produced for the Trustees’ monitoring purposes.
Finances
• The Executive Director holds the key responsibility for coordinating and generating fundraising for central funds.
• Strategic Directors focus on raising development funds such as grants supporting new activity at a national level and funds for expansion of the work with the core beneficiary groups.
• Branch Directors focus on raising project funds on a regional basis, coordinated via a central funding database, and in liaison with the Executive Director and the wider Director team.
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FINANCIAL REVIEW (UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
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Chairman’s statement on Reserves Policy
The accounts as presented according to the Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP 2015) show a consolidated position across all the charity’s activities.
The trustees have reviewed the charity’s needs for reserves in line with the guidance issued by the Charity Commission. It is the policy of the charity to carry forward sufficient funds in reserve to cover any anticipated shortfall within the year over the organisation’s running costs, in excess of income. This takes into account the current level of our core support and delays or changes in receipt of grants or donations towards core costs.
Reserves at the year-end within the branches’ separate General Funds will be used for project delivery in the coming year. The year-end level of unrestricted general reserves is £109,617 and £30,646 in unrestricted designated reserves. Restricted reserves are £430,672. The trustees would ideally like to build general unrestricted reserves to equate to 6 months running costs at current levels, in monetary figures this would amount to about £500,000. The trustees continue to plan to mitigate any
potential risks to the charity’s finances.
As in previous years, the trustees have been comfortable that the charity is a going concern despite its low unrestricted reserves on the basis of confirmed donations into the unrestricted fund for the next financial year and ongoing support from Trustees and donors.
Principle Funding Sources
Funds are drawn from charitable trusts, public funding bodies and local authorities, private donations, corporate donors and sponsors, and payments for services from project partners.
The trustees (who are also directors of Live Music Now Limited for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Through our social media, website, events, and other communications, we regularly tell our supporters about how their funds are making a difference through music to people’s lives. We strictly adhere to the Fundraising Regulator’s
code of fundraising practice. All fundraisers representing us receive training to understand the standards we expect when representing us externally, to ensure a positive experience for everyone. We will always take action if those acting on our behalf fail to meet our high standards, and we will never sell data to anyone else without their express permission. LMN has a procedure for handling complaints and we are committed to dealing with all complaints constructively, impartially, and promptly.
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
-
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
-
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
-
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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• state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Public Benefit Statement
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in Section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit “Charities and Public Benefit”.
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE THE MEMBERS OF LIVE MUSIC NOW LTD
I report on the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 March 2021which are set out on pages 67 to 81.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity’s trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
Since the Company’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants (England and Wales) which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:
-
accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
-
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
-
the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination: or
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- the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by:
Sir Vernon Ellis Chairman
Date: 19 October 2021
Kate Taylor FCA
For and behalf of Simpson Wreford LLP, Chartered Accountants
Institute of Chartered Accounts in England and Wales Wellesley House Duke of Wellington Avenue London, SE18 6SS
Date: 27 January 2022
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STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT
| Notes Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total funds 2021 Total funds 2020 £ £ £ £ Income from: Donations and legacies 2 447,616 436,012 883,628 766,978 Charitable activities 3 86,738 - 86,738 185,484 Investments 4 1 - 1 16 Other income 4 1,012 40 1,052 550 Total 535,367 436,052 971,419 953,028 Expenditure on: Raising funds 5 472 - 472 6,105 Charitable activities 6 511,531 260,750 772,281 976,283 Total 512,003 260,750 772,753 982,388 Net income / (expenditure) 23,364 175,302 198,666 (29,360) Transfers between funds - - - - Net movement in funds 23,364 175,302 198,666 (29,360) Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward 116,899 255,370 372,269 401,629 Total funds carried forward 17 140,263 430,672 570,935 372,269 |
|
|---|---|
All amounts relate to continuing activities within the United Kingdom.
There are no recognised gains and losses other than those included in the statement of financial activities. The notes on pages 69 to 80 form part of these financial statements.
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BALANCE SHEET AT 31 MARCH 2021
| Note | 2021 | 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | ||||
| Fixed assets | 12 | 5,444 | - | ||
| Current assets | |||||
| Debtors | 13 | 90,801 | 54,889 | ||
| Cash at bank and in hand Total current assets |
578,818 669,619 |
499,622 554,511 |
|||
| Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year | 14 | (44,735) | (82,242) | ||
| Net current assets | 624,884 | 472,269 | |||
| Net assets | 630,328 | 472,269 | |||
| Creditors: Amounts falling due after more than one year | 14 | (59,393) | (100,000) | ||
| 570,935 | 372,269 | ||||
| The funds of the charity: | |||||
| Restricted funds | 430,672 | 255,370 | |||
| Unrestricted income funds | 17 | ||||
| General funds | 140,263 | 116,899 | |||
| 570,935 | 372,269 |
For the financial year in question the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
No members have required the company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.
The Trustees acknowledge their responsibility for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of the accounts.
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regine.
Approved by the board of trustees on 19 October 2021 and signed on its behalf by:
Sir Vernon Ellis Chairman
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STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
| Note 2021 2020 £ £ Cash used in operating activities Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities 18 125,635 43,772 Cash fows from investing activities Interest income 1 16 Purchase of tangible fxed assets (5,833) - Repayments of borrowing (40,607) - Cash infows from new borrowings - 100,000 Cash provided (used)/by in investing activities (46,439) 100,016 Increase/(Decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in the year 79,196 143,788 Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 499,622 355,834 Total cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 578,818 499,622 |
|
|---|---|
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 March 2021
1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of preparation
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the financial Report Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2015), (Charities SORP (FRS102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) and the Companies Act 2006.
The accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis, as the Trustees have reasonable expectation that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future.
Going concern
The trustees have acknowledged the accounts have been approved during the Covid-19 crisis pandemic. At the time of approving
the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus, the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Fund accounting
Unrestricted general funds – these are funds which can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the trustees.
Unrestricted designated funds – these are funds that the Trustees have designated, to support the running costs of the Charity.
Restricted funds – these are funds that can only be used for particular purposes with the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted activities.
Incoming resources
Incoming resources are from donations, grants, sponsorship receipts, gift aid, and bank interest and are credited gross in the year in which they
are receivable. If expenditure has been incurred for which sponsorship income or similar is expected to cover it then the associated income has been accrued.
Certain fundraising events are designated to provide reserves for future recurring costs. Such income is credited to the general fund. Other minor fundraising events are carried out by the branches and the income is in the general fund.
Resources expended
All expenditure is charged in the year in which it is incurred.
Project delivery costs are the costs associated with arranging and holding a musical event other than musicians’ fees and expenses which are under performance costs.
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Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2021 (continued…)
1 Accounting policies (continued)
Certain support and administration costs are allocated to project delivery costs using a set percentage. For the head office, 25% of costs are allocated in this way, whilst for other branches the percentage is 85%. Fundraising activities are an allocation of staff time, derived in the current year by the percentage of staff time spent fundraising. Rental costs are charged to the SOFA on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
Tangible fixed assets
All tangible assets are stated at cost less depreciation
Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life:
Computer equipment 5 years straight line
Pension costs
The charity operates a personal pension plan
scheme for several employees. The contributions payable for the year are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities.
Taxation
The company is a registered charity and therefore is not liable for income tax or corporation tax on income derived from its charitable activities, as it falls within the various exemptions available to registered charities.
Financial instruments
The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measure at their settlement value.
Debtors
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.
Creditors and provisions
Creditors and provisions are recognised where
the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliability. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
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2 INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES
| Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds 2021 Total 2020 Total £ £ £ £ Government & other public authorities 62,423 46,263 108,686 50,985 Government grants - job retention scheme 40,771 - 40,771 - Supporters, including corporate sponsors & general public 41,925 8,823 50,748 45,089 Charitable institutions 302,497 380,926 683,423 670,904 447,616 436,012 883,628 766,978 |
|
|---|---|
3 INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
| Unrestricted Funds | Restricted Funds | 2021 Total | 2020 Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Earned Income | 86,738 | - | 86,738 | 185,484 |
Although most concerts are provided free of charge, we also work in partnership with various organisations, such as local authorities, who contract with Live Music Now to provide specialist services as part of their social, educational, or healthcare programme.
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4 INCOME FROM INVESTMENTS & OTHER INCOME
| Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds 2021 Total 2020 Total £ £ £ £ Bank interest 1 - 1 16 Sundry income 1,012 40 1,052 550 1,013 40 1,053 566 |
|
|---|---|
5 RAISING FUNDS EXPENDITURE
| Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds 2021 Total 2020 Total £ £ £ £ Fundraising 472 - 472 6,105 |
|
|---|---|
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6 ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
| Musicians fees and expenses Recruitment, auditions and training Project expenses - other Project delivery costs Governance costs Administration and ofce costs |
2021 2020 General Funds Restricted Funds Total General Funds Restricted Funds Total £ £ £ £ £ £ 45,028 136,416 181,444 1,630 417,853 419,483 21,972 100 22,072 14,356 - 14,356 2,768 21,244 24,012 17,579 6,608 24,187 136,174 102,990 239,164 294,082 - 294,082 3,600 - 3,600 4,959 - 4,959 301,989 - 301,989 218,914 302 219,216 511,531 260,750 772,281 551,520 424,763 976,283 |
|---|---|
7 ANALYSIS OF GOVERNANCE AND SUPPORT COSTS
| Trustee meeting costs Independent examiners fees |
General Support Governance 2021 Total 2020 Total £ £ £ £ - - - 1,159 - 3,600 3,600 3,800 - 3,600 3,600 4,959 |
|---|---|
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8 ANALYSIS OF ADMINISTRATION AND OFFICE COSTS
| 2021 Total 2020 Total £ £ Rent, rates, heating & lighting 11,420 13,771 Ofce expenses (including accountancy) 37,474 66,656 Insurance 1,931 1,625 Bank charges 1,456 1,617 Development, advertising & publications 1,664 609 Staff Salaries and NI costs 460,870 384,283 Staff expenses 3,031 15,572 Sundry 22,918 29,163 Depreciation 389 - 541,153 513,296 Allocated director to project delivery costs 239,164 294,082 Administration and ofce support 301,989 219,214 |
|
|---|---|
9 ANALYSIS OF STAFF COSTS, TRUSTEE REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES, AND THE COST OF KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
| 2021 Total | 2020 Total | |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| Wages & Salaries | 426,887 | 352,787 |
| Social security costs | 27,540 | 24,727 |
| Pension costs | 6,443 | 6,769 |
| 460,870 | 384,283 |
No employee received emoluments of more than £60,000 during the current or preceding year.
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10 STAFF NUMBERS
| 2021 Total | 2020 Total | |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| Charitable activites and fundraising | 15 | 15 |
| Trustees/directors | 2 | 2 |
| 17 | 17 |
The key management personnel remuneration totals £63,462 (2020: £54,375).
No special retirement or leaving payments were made during the year (2020: £nil). Pension contributions totaling £6,443 (2020: £6,769) were made during the year. As at the 31 March 2021 the was £1,439 in outstanding contributions payable (2020: £nil)
In addition to the normal staff the charity uses musicians on a short-term contract basis from a pool of approximately 300 approved musicians. The numbers used fluctuate according to the type of concerts provided throughout the year. Musicians are paid fees and subsistence expenses and in the year a total of £136,416 (2020: £417,853) was paid.
11 TRUSTEE EXPENSES
| 2021 Total 2020 Total £ £ Expenses reimbursed - 789 |
|
|---|---|
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12 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
| Total £ Cost At 1 April 2020 - Additions 5,833 Disposals - At 31 March 2021 5,833 Depreciation At 1 April 2020 - Depreciation charge 389 At 31 March 2021 389 Net book values 31 March 2021 5,444 |
|
|---|---|
13 DEBTORS
| 2021 Total | 2020 Total | |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| Sundry debtors | 48,223 | 51,749 |
| Accrued income | 42,578 | 3,140 |
| 90,801 | 54,889 |
Accrued income includes a £40,000 Paul Hamlyn Foundation grant which was received after the year end.
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14.1 CREDITORS: AMOUNTS DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
| 2021 Total 2020 Total £ £ Other creditors 7,760 16,035 Accruals 3,000 5,060 Deferred income (see note 15) 25,000 55,725 Taxation and social security 8,975 5,422 44,735 82,242 |
|
|---|---|
15 DEFERRED INCOME
| 2021 Total | 2020 Total | |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| Balance as at 1 April 2020 | 55,725 | 30,000 |
| Released in the year | (30,725) | (30,000) |
| Amount deferred in the year | - | 55,725 |
| Balance as at 31 March 2021 | 25,000 | 55,725 |
Deferred income comprises grants which the donor has specified to be used in future accounting periods.
14.1 CREDITORS: AMOUNTS DUE AFTER ONE YEAR
| 2021 Total | 2020 Total | |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| Loan | 59,393 | 100,000 |
The loan is repayable in 2 to 5 years and is interest free.
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16 FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
| 2021 Total 2020 Total £ £ Carrying value of fnancial assets measured at amortised cost 86,969 50,046 Carrying value of fnancial liabilities measured at amortised cost 70,153 121,095 |
|
|---|---|
17 FUNDS
| Balance at Apr 2021 | Incoming resources | Resources expended | Transfers | Balance at 31 Mar 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Restricted funds | 255,370 | 436,052 | (260,750) | - | 430,672 |
| General fund | 116,899 | 486,596 | (493,878) | - | 109,617 |
| Designated fund | - | 48,771 | (18,125) | - | 30,646 |
| 372,269 | 971,419 | (772,753) | - | 570,935 |
Within the restricted income is £nil received in the year (2020: £1,810) from the LIBOR fund, while £649 (2020: £3,521) has been spent in the year and £78 (2020: £727) is carried forward at the year end. This money was restricted for activities for veterans from the armed forces and their dependents.
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17 FUNDS CONTINUED 18 RECONCILIATION OF NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Within restricted reserves there are 5 material funds carried forward as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Paul Hamlyn Foundation | 59,717 |
| Youth Music | 44,832 |
| MVAT | 29,835 |
| City Bridge Trus | 23,120 |
| John Lyons Foundation | 23,772 |
| 2021 2020 £ £ Net movements in funds 198,666 (29,360) Add back: Depreciation 389 - Deduct: Interest shown in investing activities (1) (16) (Increase)/decrease in debtors (35,912) 57,406 (Decrease)/increase in creditors (37,507) 15,742 125,635 43,772 |
|
|---|---|
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19 CAPITAL
Live Music Now Limited is a charitable company, limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The members have agreed to contribute £1 each to the Charity’s assets in the event of it winding up, if its assets should prove insufficient to cover its liabilities, or within one year after he or she ceases to be a member, for payment of the debts and liabilities of the company contracted before he or she ceases to be a member, and of the costs, charges and expenses of winding up, and for the adjustment of the rights of the contributories among themselves.
20 CONTROLLING PARTY
The trustees of Live Music Now Limited are considered to be the controlling party of the company.
20 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
During the year a payment of £5,599 (2020: £7,000) was received from Live Music Now Scotland, a charity with a number of common trustees.
During the year donations of £3,600 (2020: £3,600) was received directly from two of the trustees.
During the year to 31 March 2020 an interest free loan of £100,000 was received from the Chair (The Vernon Ellis Foundation). £40,607 of the loan has been written off as an income contribution in the year ended 31 March 2021. The loan balance is repayable in four years.
The Vernon Ellis Foundation also made a donation in the year ended 31 March 2021 of £30,000
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Live Music Now
46 Montclair Drive Liverpool L18 0HB info@livemusicnow.org.uk www.livemusicnow.org.uk Tel: 0151 222 0018
livemusicnowuk livemusicnow livemusicnowuk live-music-now
Registered Charity No.273596 (England & Wales); Live Music Now Limited is registered in England and Wales No.1312283.
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LIVE MUSIC NOW
Photo credits
Cover (left): A member of the Monkscroft team and a resident enjoy a pre-recorded video from singer/songwriter Julia Turner. Read more here.
Cover (right): Children in Wales watching a concert from Live Music Now’s pre-recorded video library.
Page 2: Live Music Now Wales Clarinettist Daisy Evans playing during an Including Me session.
Page 4: Sir Vernon Ellis, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Live Music Now
Page 6: Team Zoom call, March 2020
Page 7: CEO Janet Fischer and Executive Director Nina Swann Page 8: The Musical Human’ by Michael Spitzer Page 9: Songs and Scones concert in Ballywalter Northern Ireland with musician Louis McTeggart.
Page 10: Harpist Lise Vandersmissen performs at the University College Hospital vaccination centre in Islington. Page 11: Musician Zoe Wren livestreams a concert commissioned by C&C care home in London for National Arts in Care Home Day, September 2020
Page 12: A collage of Live Music Now’s online video library artists. Visit www.youtube.com/livemusicnowonline
Page 14: Sadie Fleming leads an online zoom session with Fiveways School in Yeovil.
Page 15: In October, 2020, Yorkshire based folk group, The Dovetail Trio, were the first LMN group to perform a concert in a school since March. Read an interview with them here. Page 16: Live Music Now musicians engage with children 1:1 in Including Me projects. Read more here.
Page 17: Bassoonist Eleanor Mills with children in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Music As Medicine programme. Read a case study Eleanor wrote about her experience here. Page 18: A child at Welsh children’s hospice Tˆy Hafan, engaging in live music making (pre-COVID19)
Page 20: Musical Care Taskforce meeting. Read more here. Page 21: Keep singing/Covid’ graphic. Read more here. Page 22: Mary-Jannet Leith and Thomas Allery of Ensemble Hesperi zoom in to their a music residency session at Park Avenue care home. Read more here.
Page 23 (left): North East musician Simon Robinson gave a live outdoor concert at a COVID19 recovery centre in Leeds. Read more here.
Page 23 (right): Folk duo Bowreed serenade residents from AbleCare care homes in Bristol. Read more here.
Page 24: A member of the Monkscroft team and a resident enjoy a pre-recorded video from singer/songwriter Julia Turner. Read more here.
Page 25: Residents of Apple Blossom lodge and Musicians Deirdre Galway and Louis McTeggart during musical sessions via Zoom. Read more here.
Page 27: The annual Musicians’ Practice Forum moved online in 2020. Read more here.
Page 28: Conor Lamb and Deidre Galway livestream from Keady Clachan. Watch all the videos they produced for Live Music Now here.
Page 29: Musician Rosie Bergonzi
Page 30: Musician Joseph Cavalli-Price Page 31: Musician Sîan Dicker
Page 33: Mum, baby and musician Angharad Jenkins during a Lullaby Project session at Flying Start, Dusty Forge, Cardiff. Read more here.
Page 34: Musician Nicola Lyons leads a violin lesson with a pupil at Manor School, Brent. Photo Credit: Ivan Gonzalez.
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Page 35: Taff Duo (Lowri Thomas and Tom Taffinder) performs outside the Dewi Davies Ceredigion care home in Wales during a Songs & Scones event. Page 36 (left): Back Chat Brass in their pre-recorded video for children and families.
Page 36 (right): Mishra duo in their pre-recorded video for children and young people.
Page 37: Rosie Hood in a pre-recorded video for children and young people.
Page 38: Paul Exton-McGuinness, trombonist and specialist music leader, was Musician in Residence at Newlands School. Read more here.
Page 39 (far left): Harpist Lucy Nolan performs with patient and parent at Alder Hey Children’s hospital. Read more here.
Page 39 (middle): Pip Bryan from Rise Trio engages with babies and parents over zoom during a Baby Week performance produced in partnership with Cheshire and Merseyside Women and Children’s Partnership “Improving Me” programme. Read more here.
Page 39 (far right): Filkin’s Drift are beamed into classrooms in Liverpool reaching thousands of students. Read more.
Page 40: Student participates in an online 1:1 beat boxing class with musician Dean Yhnell in a special project with Victoria Education College
Page 41: Musicians Alain Rouamba, Akeim Toussaint Buck and Rosie Bergonzi record sessions at St George’s Bristol. Read more.
Page 42: Park Avenue care home staff make a music video after their music residency with Ensemble Hesperi. Watch here.
Page 43 (left): A collage of Live Music Now’s online video library artists. Visit www.youtube.com/ livemusicnowonline
Page 43 (right): Danilo and Solomon (Markman Mascetti Duo) lead an online Chanukah concert with Nightingale House care home in London.
Page 44: Northern Ireland musicians Ellen Campbell, Cindy Yung and William Brown help Belfast Central Mission celebrate two very special birthdays with prerecorded and outdoor live music performances.
Page 45: ‘Strabane Sessions’ Care Home DVDs created by Deirdre and Conor of Realta. Watch and listen here.
Page 46: Seren Winds perform a ‘Doorstep Concert’ to celebrate LMN Wales 30th Anniversary. Read more here.
Page 47 (left): Musician Angharad Jenkins livestreaming for a 1:1 Including Me concert.
Page 47 (right): Top Brass perform a ‘Doorstep Concert’ to celebrate LMN Wales 30th Anniversary. Read more here.
Page 48: Josh Doughty and Alain Rouamba perform in the lobby of North Bristol NHS Trust. Read more here. Page 49: Royal Harpist Alis Huws performs a virtual live concert for adults who were shielding at home. Page 50: Luke Baxter and Iolo Edwards of Quartet 19. Page 51: Musicians perform weekly zoom concerts for staff of North Bristol NHS Trust. Read more here. Page 52: The Show Must Go On Webinar with Live Music Now musicians and staff: June 2020. Read more here.
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