LULLABY HOUR: The charity Music in Hospitals & Care (MiHC) organises carefully selected musicians to sing soothing lullabies and play calming melodies for premature babies and sick children in hospitals and hospices.
MiHC have developed a Lullaby Hour Songbook and audio for families of sick children to take home or download. We will be launching the new Lullaby Hour Songbook on the Children’s Ward at Victoria Hospital in Fife on 1st April 2019 @ 2pm.
Lullaby Hour delivers wonderful melodies at the bedside/cotside by the charity’s experienced musicians. The music soothes babies and children, helping to bring relaxation and restful sleep, as well as helping to calm and and reduce stress for parents at truly difficult times. Lullabies are a wonderful way to connect with children and MiHC has now produced a beautifully illustrated book which gives a flavour of the concert sessions themselves - delivering special memories for families to treasure.
Lullaby Hour was initially developed at the Children’s Heart Unit (CHU) at The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne where MiHC was delivering daytime play concerts on the unit. Sometimes the children and babies were just too ill to participate, so after discussions with the play specialists at the hospital, MiHC trialled early evening bedside sessions to help the children settle. And Lullaby Hour was born…
Katie Newton, aunt of Charlie Pratt who received a heart transplant in 2018: “Charlie is now thriving since he received his new heart in February 2018. I know that the Lullaby Hour team were a beautiful and welcome distraction to the sounds and strange noises coming from the machinery on the wards, and helped with his recovery.
"Everyone the Lullaby Hour team sang to, took great comfort and a sense of peace. Just seeing Charlie's rivetted little face when they sang to him was wonderful to see in what was some of his darkest hours."
Pamela Shannon, Health Play Worker, Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy: "Babies and young children at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy have benefitted from interactive live music sessions provided by Music in Hospitals & Care Scotland for over 15 years. Some of our more severely ill patients in our ICU children’s ward have been unable to attend wider ward sessions in the past. We’re delighted they will continue to enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits of live music without having to move from their bedsides through the launch of MiHC’s Lullaby Hour”
Since its inception, Lullaby Hour has won a national award for innovation from the ScottishPower Foundation, along with a grant to support the project in more hospitals across the UK. MiHC has also received funding from Arts Council England towards the development of the Lullaby Hour Songbook.
Lullaby Hour has now expanded to Scotland, with individualised music sessions for the children on the children’s ward of the Victoria Hospital, Fife starting on 1st April 2019.
The Lullaby Hour CD and Songbook has been produced to enhance the sessions and will be available for parents and families to access online or as hard copies.
For further information please contact:
Claire Bennett, Director Scotland:
Tel: 0131 556 5848 M: 07428 046300
Email: claireb@mihc.org.uk
Lullaby Hour Songbook launches will also be taking place in England and Wales on the same day:
ENGLAND: Katie Derham, BBC presenter and Strictly finalist, will be launching the Songbook at St Mary’s Hospital Neo-Natal Unit, London on 1st April 2019 at 2pm.
WALES: Wynne Evans, opera singer and national radio presenter, will be launching the Songbook at the Noah’s Ark Hospital in Cardiff on 1st April 2019 at 2pm.
Notes to Editors:
MiHC is a UK charity, founded in 1948. Our live musical sessions are designed to humanise clinical settings, to reach and connect people, to encourage communication and meaningful interactions and to elicit emotions and memories when it matters most.
MiHC concerts are focused on improving wellbeing and quality of life for people of all ages in hospitals, hospices, care homes and special needs schools, as well as outreach concerts in day units, tea clubs, dementia cafes and clinics. Our musicians are professionals with excellent engagement skills and musicianship, who design the concerts to maximise communication and connection. We provide around 4,500 concerts across the UK annually, benefiting over 100,000 people ranging from elderly people with dementia to life-limited children in hospices and on hospital wards.
Website: www.mihc.org.uk
Social Channels: @MiHCScotland @MiHCUK #LullabyHour #loveyournhsfife