Liverpool Music Support Service (LMSS) is currently piloting an eight-week community project that is bringing together Granby Care Home, Princes Primary School, Kingsley Community School and Smithdown Junior School in the Toxteth area for an innovative communication project.

The unique initiative has created group sessions for the elder residents in the re-enablement unit and adults with learning disabilities at Granby Care Home, along with children with complex learning disabilities from Princes Primary School and mainstream schoolchildren who speak English as an additional language from both Kingsley Community and Smithdown Junior Schools. The inter-generational project uses music, singing and Matakon signing to break down the barriers between these groups and encourage vocalisation and non-verbal communication skills through fun learning and interaction with others.

Jonathan Dickson, Head of Service at Liverpool Music Support Service said: “We first came across the Hub in May and although the different groups were already working together, we could really sense the scope for something more. Utilising the skills and expertise of the LMSS, we have been able to offer community music sessions to the groups and have shaped the future of these intergenerational gatherings through the promotion of communication and the use of specialist music education techniques. “The project enables adults and children, many of whom face real challenges with communication, to come together and create friendships while building upon so many important skills. I went along to the first session and I was blown away by what I saw. Music is such a powerful tool and we’re able to use it as a mechanism, along with the Matakon signing, to visibly improve the group’s communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal. With the vision of Liverpool Music Support Service, the Hub has been able to incorporate musical activities into their weekly sessions, run by an experienced music therapist and a singing tutor.

LMSS’s capability in musical education has opened the project up to the benefits of musical learning such as boosting confidence, increasing concentration, focus and memory while improving interaction with others. With Department of Education figures showing that 957,490 schoolchildren in England speak English as an additional language, the potential reach of LMSS’s pilot programme is broader than ever. The singing and signing sessions are run by Lynne Newton and Georgina Roberts, who have experience working with the Liverpool Music Support Service in the past and utilise instruments, live music, singing and Matakon signing actions to encourage learning skills within the group.

Kate Maher, Manager at Granby Care Home said: “The LMSS have been amazing. The quality of the input from Lynne and Georgina is just outstanding and you can really see the elders and adults getting involved and enjoying themselves. It can be more difficult to measure the impact of the programme in adults than in children but the impact of the ‘feelgood factor’ is evident in all those who get involved.” The sessions have provided the pathway to friendship between the children and adults involved, free from the preconceptions and misunderstanding that can occur in everyday life. They accept each other, exactly how they are and without passing judgement or even acknowledging any differences at all, an unfortunately rare thing even now. Juliette Gelling, Deputy Head at Princes Primary School said: “The children from Princes and the adult users of Granby Care Home have enjoyed working together on several arts projects over the academic year and now the music sessions have begun. The children love meeting different people and engaging with them and you only have to be at the music therapy sessions for a short time to see how responsive the adults are to the children. The children call the adults over in the Hub their friends, and that is exactly what they have become.”