What is Singing Mamas On Prescription?

Singing On Prescription is a programme of complementary support created by Singing Mamas Choir CIC to run alongside or in place of a traditional medical intervention for an individual’s health needs.

Sessions allow individuals to experience the joy of singing in a safe and supportive environment, guided by a fully trained choir leader from the Singing Mamas Network. The accompanying resources encourage participants to reflect on the experience and set goals for better health and well-being.

FREE funded places

In April 2021 Singing Mamas Choir received £7000 in grant funding from Cheshire and Merseyside Women and Children's Services to deliver a combined programme of online and face to face Songline Health Choirs within Liverpool and Knowsley local authorities.

In July 2019 Holistic Harmonies worked with Clare McCarroll, an older person’s specialist physiotherapist, to run a programme of intergenerational music and movement sessions in a nursing home in Liverpool. The programme engaged residents, alongside local parents and their pre-school children in six free one hour-long sessions incorporating familiar songs and accessible dance movements. The intention of the programme was to bring benefits to the residents who are often isolated, to encourage movement, positive feelings, and to provide an opportunity to allow for social connections to occur between generations.

​

Since the pandemic has separated families even further, the need for intergenerational interaction is all the more urgent in these times. As the lockdown eases, community organisations, including Holistic Harmonies, are seeking new ways to engage older people in a safe way using a mixture of online and outdoor approaches. There is work to be done to find new approaches to delivery, whilst also rethinking what is possible – we need to build back better.

In December 2020, Holistic Harmonies CIC, brought together three Liverpool based musicians to perform on people’s doorsteps during the festive season. The aim was to bring a Musical Mood Boost to people experiencing loneliness and isolation during the turbulent year of 2020.

​

Having launched a social media campaign on World Mental Health Day in October, we received nominations from loved ones, neighbours and professionals for people who had experienced a particularly challenging year.

​

We also partnered with community based organisations to reach a wider audience of people experiencing hardship in the community. 

​

With an ongoing pandemic, and the dawning realisation that lockdown restrictions would still be in place at Christmas; the stark and sad reality that there would be no public carol services, no Christmas concerts, parties or light switch on’s, made us a Holistic Harmonies create an offering for the community.