Changing lives
Our projects are about more than simply creating music; the creative process is also a vehicle for substantial personal development and can act as the catalyst in helping participants to make positive changes in their lives.
“I CAN’T EMPHASISE ENOUGH HOW FORGOTTEN FROM SOCIETY ONE CAN FEEL ON THIS SIDE OF THE WALL, BUT PROJECTS LIKE THIS & WONDERFUL PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELVES TO FACILITATE IT, CREATE POSITIVE & LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCES,”
MUSIC IN PRISONS PARTICIPANT
OUTCOMES
Our projects result in a range of positive short- and long-term outcomes, including:
- Increased creative, expressive and musical abilities
- Increased motivation and aspiration
- Increased wellbeing, including self-esteem and confidence
- Increased skills associated with employability such as communication and team work
- Change perceptions through enabling participants to present themselves and be viewed positively at performances and via recordings of music they have created
- Build/re-build positive relationships with peers and family members
- Progression to employment, education, training and volunteering opportunities
- Selected community-based participants provided with training and paid work-experience placements
- Improved behaviour in prison and supporting reduced reoffending on release
EVALUATIONS
Our success in supporting our communities to achieve positive change is demonstrated through our own project monitoring and external evaluations, including by University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology and the University of Wolverhampton’s Institute for Community Research and Development, which you can read in full here.
“The men’s experiences of the project, particularly their feelings of encouragement to try things without judgement and to work together on a venture, clearly facilitated the development of their individual competencies and self-esteem. The individual competencies that men gained through the project may have implications not only for behaviour in prisons in the short term, but perhaps also for foundational aspects of selfhood and human capital (the capacity to co-operate, relate to others, negotiate and share, for example). These things can lead to improved outcomes once someone has been released from prison – for example, in terms of establishing relationships, confidence in one’s self, and abilities – all of which contribute to the development of social capital (opportunities, connections, and new horizons).”
‘Beats and Bars: Music in Prisons, An Evaluation’ by University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Find out what participants say about the impact taking part in projects has had on their lives here.
MONITORING
We have robust monitoring systems in place which are continually honed and developed. Every project is monitored by pre- and post-project questionnaires for participants, providing both quantitative and qualitative data, in addition to questionnaires for prison staff; our project team complete a daily diary detailing progress of each individual and the group as a whole. We also ask participants to complete a follow-up questionnaire several months after the project, allowing us to measure how well positive impacts have been sustained.
Of course, projects do also result in some fantastic pieces of original music; have a listen here.
RESEARCH
We also look for opportunities to take part in specific pieces of research which can support our learning and development as an organisation. Recently Artistic Director Sara Lee wrote a report on her learnings from her Winston Churchill Memorial Fund Travelling Fellowship; our former Personal Development Manager Hermione Jones undertook a piece of Action Research commissioned by Sound Connections into the ‘Role of the Support Worker’ in music projects; and our project team got together for our first RnD Lab. Find our more here.
