Barnabus Manchester
Music Therapy Sessions
At Barnabus we believe in having a holistic approach in helping people recover from homelessness. It is incredibly important that our guests reconnect with creativity and can express themselves.
Our music Therapy sessions allow our guest to do this. It gives them new skills as they learn instruments, it gives them opportunity to express themselves as they write songs and it allows them to have fun singing and playing some of their favourite pieces of music. All this happens in the context of our Beacon Support centres work to help people off the streets and to leave homelessness behind for good.
Our work at Barnabus:
Barnabus runs the Beacon Support Centre, concentrating on provision for those in immediate crisis rough sleeping in our city. We support people off the street through helping them with food, showers, setting up benefits claims, referrals to drug, alcohol and mental health services, seeing a primary care nurse and of course, referring people into emergency, supported or private accommodation. We do this by creating trust; our non-judgemental person centred approach means that sometimes we may work with people for months or even years before the client achieves positive change.
Our long term approach means that we can continue to support our clients past their immediate crisis and help them to rebuild their lives in the way they want to.
We see the importance in going forward with our clients by delivering a holistic approach, especially for those who present with complex mental health needs because of deep-rooted past trauma. We make space in our week for creative arts as we see this as another key to help people unlock their potential and face the future with renewed hope. To this end we run sessions focused on music therapy.
Music Therapy:
We now run music therapy sessions each week here at Barnabus which has been tremendously successful – we have had clients who would struggle to engage in our setting learning the guitar or drums and even writing songs together. It is an inspiring and uplifting session
Over this last year we have seen 236 individuals access these music therapy sessions and many of them taking the opportunity to have 1:2:1 tuition sessions (7 different clients accessing 26 sessions of 1:2:1 tuition). We have seen guests learn new instruments, write songs and simply express themselves in a creative way.
Impact on our Guests:
This is what our participants have said: One service user talks about it being the highlight of their week and she has gone from not actively participating and appearing anxious and withdrawn, to singing solos and being a leader within the group in a matter of weeks. Another service user says it feels like I’m really listening to them, and wanting to spend time learning about who they are and what they offer, which they feel is a refreshing approach to supporting the homeless community.
What our Music Therapist had to say:
We partner with Nordoff Robbins charity who supply us with a music therapist and her feedback has been hugely positive:
“I have been a music therapist for nearly 5 years and have found this some of the most interesting and important work I’ve done to date. I believe the work I am doing to be incredibly valuable at Barnabus.”
We are so grateful for Westhill’s Grant as it will allow this vital piece of work to continue into 2025
Barnabus runs the Beacon Support Centre, concentrating on provision for those in immediate crisis rough sleeping in our city. We support people off the street through helping them with food, showers, setting up benefits claims, referrals to drug, alcohol and mental health services, seeing a primary care nurse and of course, referring people into emergency, supported or private accommodation. We do this by creating trust; our non-judgemental person centred approach means that sometimes we may work with people for months or even years before the client achieves positive change.
Our long term approach means that we can continue to support our clients past their immediate crisis and help them to rebuild their lives in the way they want to.
We see the importance in going forward with our clients by delivering a holistic approach, especially for those who present with complex mental health needs because of deep-rooted past trauma. We make space in our week for creative arts as we see this as another key to help people unlock their potential and face the future with renewed hope. To this end we run sessions focused on music therapy.
Music Therapy:
We now run music therapy sessions each week here at Barnabus which has been tremendously successful – we have had clients who would struggle to engage in our setting learning the guitar or drums and even writing songs together. It is an inspiring and uplifting session
Over this last year we have seen 236 individuals access these music therapy sessions and many of them taking the opportunity to have 1:2:1 tuition sessions (7 different clients accessing 26 sessions of 1:2:1 tuition). We have seen guests learn new instruments, write songs and simply express themselves in a creative way.
Impact on our Guests:
This is what our participants have said: One service user talks about it being the highlight of their week and she has gone from not actively participating and appearing anxious and withdrawn, to singing solos and being a leader within the group in a matter of weeks. Another service user says it feels like I’m really listening to them, and wanting to spend time learning about who they are and what they offer, which they feel is a refreshing approach to supporting the homeless community.
What our Music Therapist had to say:
We partner with Nordoff Robbins charity who supply us with a music therapist and her feedback has been hugely positive:
“I have been a music therapist for nearly 5 years and have found this some of the most interesting and important work I’ve done to date. I believe the work I am doing to be incredibly valuable at Barnabus.”
We are so grateful for Westhill’s Grant as it will allow this vital piece of work to continue into 2025
For more information about Barnabus please see their website by clicking here.
