Bringing Music to People’s Front Doors

Music is a great connector; it lifts people’s spirits, makes people and brings people joy. That’s why during the 2020 lockdowns in the UK, when work for musicians dried up, Saxophonist and singer Chloe Edwards-Wood came up with the idea of singing for people who were isolated and struggling. That’s where Give a Song comes in.

 Today, after 480 musical visits to over 8,000 people who need to isolate or live in care homes, the organization is still spreading wellbeing and happiness.

Give a Song
At first, Edwards-Wood posted on Facebook about her idea and 15 people reached out to her including a trustee from the Goldsmith Community Centre in Lewisham, according to Positive News. She teamed up with the Goldsmith and Give A Song became a reality

“I had no understanding of things like insurance and risk assessments, but the community centre gave me the support to make it all happen,” she told Positive News.

The first time Edwards-Wood performed on a stranger’s doorstep, she did so near her home along with another musician. “It was really terrifying,” she said; “although as soon as we started that first song, a version of the Motown classic Dancing in the Street, the barriers came down. I remember thinking: ‘This is it! It works!’. The person loved it and people stopped to watch and listen and clap along.” 

Visits are organized through an online referral form, reported the South London Press. Typically two to four musicians go to the person’s home to perform a few songs with singers and instruments The visits typically last 15 minutes.

How the visits benefit people
Edwards-Wood told the South London Press that the responses have been truly amazing. “I feel like music brings people together in some way, it’s a way of communicating and that’s been really prevalent,” she said. “If you don’t have a common ground to have a conversation with someone, there’s always a song that can do it for you.”

Even after the lifting of Covid restrictions, the requests keep pouring in, according to Positive News. That’s because loneliness and isolation are still major issues. For some people, this is the only socialization they receive.

But it’s not just the people who receive the concerts who benefit from them. Two members are now studying music therapy and it has also been life changing for Edwards-Wood.

“I don’t know what my life or my mental health would have looked like without this,” she told Positive News. “Being able to share all these interactions, all these moments of musical joy, I feel very lucky.”