200605 - SOUNDCASTLE LOGO - Positive

We are creative placemakers. Founded in 2012, we are an artist-led charity on a creative mission!  We take a joyful and creative approach to ignite and cultivate spaces, breaking down social barriers and bringing people together.

Our Leadership Team are qualified and experienced in musical facilitation and performance coaching and mentoring, teaching, mental health first aid, safeguarding, finance and fundraising.

We can work with you to consider what is best for your organisation and make transformational changes to create a highly tailored environment that meets the needs of your organisation and your team.

In 2022 we implemented Soundcastle’s Wellbeing review. This has enabled us to create tried and tested tools and methodologies designed to help positive change within your organisation by creating a wellbeing-centred culture.

By improving the wellbeing of your team you are supporting them to avoid burn-out, exhaustion and emotional fatigue. Our Mental Health First Aid Training can help create a culture of open communication and understanding of the complexities of mental health challenges. 

We can help you develop and put in place the right strategies for your organisation or company. This could include:

We can help you develop and put in place the right strategies for your organisation or company. This could include:

Wellness action plans

  • Confidential and individually completed by team members as part of line-management reviews.
  • Wellbeing strategies
  • Incorporate wellbeing into review structures

Mental health and wellbeing policies

  • Mental health first aid training to create a mental health aware workplace
  • Recruit board members or advocates for mental health awareness

Staff consultations

  • Anonymous surveys
  • Feedback from team training days

Supervision frameworks

  • Establish appropriate supervision for team members working in challenging circumstances

Community consultations

  • Support setting up in-depth consultation for the charity and voluntary sector organisations.

Who we've worked with so far...

Sound Connections
‘Soundcastle ran an excellent training session for us around managing mental health and finding boundaries in the arts. We received great feedback from an engaged group of participants and will definitely be in touch with the organisation again for future training events. We have also been in touch with individual members of staff as part of our mentoring programme for the past few years. Again, the feedback and learning from these sessions has been extremely positive and inspiring!’

Twilight Presentation: Managing Mental Health and Finding Boundaries in the Arts

Ongoing mentoring relationship - started January 2024

Since 2002, Sound Connections has been working to ensure all children and young people can experience music and creative opportunities that are relevant and responsive to their needs in a changing world.

In 2024 Soundcastle were commissioned to create and deliver a twilight session, exploring how to support young people and those working in youth arts to best navigate mental health and boundaries. The session attracted a diverse audience of educators who worked together to explore how to create safe spaces for themselves and to support the young people that they collaborate with.

Soundcastle also support Sound Connection’s Innovate grant holders through coaching and mentoring.  This scheme supports individuals and grassroots organisations with an annual turnover of less than £100k looking to launch or incubate a project idea and develop new connections and skills.

Grow Wild project 2023-24

Soundcastle has worked in partnership with the LPCC since 2021, collaborating on musical play sessions for families with very young disabled and neurodivergent children.

From November 2023 – July 2024 we partnered on delivering these music sessions at Grow Wild.

Grow Wild is a green adventure space where children and families learn about nature, take managed risks and have a lot of fun located at the Lloyd Park Centre in Walthamstow, London.

Read about the project and listen to examples of music we made with the children https://www.tlpcc.org.uk/youth-music

Lloyd Park Children's Charity logo

Aldeburgh Young Musicians - Young People’s Manifesto

October 2023 - August 2024

Soundcastle co-produced a usable Code of Conduct with AYM young people by creating a student advisory panel and consulting staff and chaperones.

Working with the young musicians they created a manifesto that reflected the values of AYM and the youth voice pathway through their programme. It incorporated systems for ongoing feedback and updates that can be supported by staff.

This was achieved over 12 months through 3 whole day workshops and online meetings with young people, staff, tutors, assistants and chaperones from across the programme. Consultation with the leadership team throughout the process allowed for their direction on focus of activities and updates to the manifesto. Important and at times difficult conversations arose from the perspective of the young people at AYM who are digital natives about opportunities and the potential of generational divide around the role of social media and copyright.

Diversity in Early Years Performance Making

2023

Spun Glass Theatre is a Hastings based theatre company whose Mini Playhouse is a highly targeted drama organisation focusing on early years.  In 2023 Soundcastle and Spun Glass Theatre undertook a joint research project exploring Diversity in Early Years Performance Making.

We researched the barriers holding artists back from making work for very young audiences. Funded by Arts Council England, this research sets out some provocations for possible change within the arts industry. Spun Glass Theatre’s report can be read here.

Beyond this research programme we have provided support to Spun Glass Theatre in the form of Leadership Coaching, co-bidding for funds and are developing a partnership working practice.

Presentations and training

November 2024 and Spring 2025

Music Mark are a membership organisation, Subject Association, and an Arts Council England Investment Principles Support Organisation (IPSO) advocating for excellent musical learning in and out of school. They support members through training and resources, connect them with the wider Music Education network across the UK, and influence on their behalf at a national level. 

We were delighted to present ‘Pressure To Perform’ at the Music Mark annual conference in Nottingham, November 2024. This session was designed to support music education leaders and practitioners to open up conversations around mental health and to enable them to feel empowered to seek support before crisis point.

In Spring 2025 we will be delivering our Mental Health First Aid training course online, tailored to Music Mark members specifically.

Coaching

Jan - July 2020
This partnership saw Soundcastle using our coaching expertise to enable an international group of women to address and challenge their creative practice. We supported them to deep dive into their fears and to explore what holds them back and how to make their individual juggles a part of their creative identities. We delivered 6 months of online sessions, modelling best practice in self-care, wellbeing and reflective practice.

Saturday Music School for families

Sept 2021 - Feb 2022

Newham Music is the award-winning music hub for Newham. They are committed to providing high-quality music education and opportunities to children and young people in schools throughout the borough and at Newham Music Academy, their after school and Saturday music centre.

Over 5.5 days in a six month period Soundcastle supported Newham Music staff to design, promote and deliver a new weekly inclusive family music making session at the core of the Saturday music school.

Consultancy included:

  • Programme Design, Management and Evaluation
  • Leadership Consultancy
  • Training
  • Modelling Delivery in Sessions
  • Staff Coaching and Guided Reflections
Newham Music Logo

Digital Technologies Consultancy

Nov 2021 - July 2022

SWL Music is the Hub Lead Organisation for Southwest London and an established partnership of seven outstanding Music Services in South West London: Croydon Music & Arts, Hounslow Music Service, Kingston Music Service, Merton Music Foundation, Richmond Music Trust, Sutton Music Trust, and Wandsworth Music.

Over 12 days in a nine month period Soundcastle supported the South West London Hubs to consult their young people on the use of digital technologies in their musical learning during the pandemic and in the future.

  • Data Collation
  • Focus Groups (Live and online)
  • Report Writing
  • Ongoing Youth Panel consultation sessions

Coaching Sessions

October 2022 - April 2023

Every Copy Counts is The Schools Printed Music Licence which has  been developed by Printed Music Licensing Ltd (PMLL) who represent print and music publishers. By submitting sheet music data schools ensure they comply with the licence and join a community who support fairness in print music copyright.

This coaching partnership saw Soundcastle supporting a group of freelance professionals to manage a working landscape of change and uncertainty with a focus on maintaining their resilience. With the team working remotely, we used the sessions to connect and strengthen working relationships, develop forward thinking strategies for mental blocks and assess and improve wellbeing in the workplace.

Consultancy & Musical Beacons Programme

July 2021 - April 2023

A music charity, renowned venue and award-winning music education hub. As Bristol’s music education hub, they provide award-winning tuition from early years to age 18 and safe spaces to be creative and make music. This includes individual instrument and singing tuition, as well as the opportunity to join groups, choirs and ensembles.

Soundcastle were commissioned to run a consultancy programme, exploring the need, demand and viability of an inclusive programme for early years children and families in and around Bristol. We worked closely with disability partners including West of England Inclusive Living, Bristol Autism Project, Incredible Me and Oasis Academy Long Cross and developed a multi-year inclusive families programme which became part of our core Musical Beacons offer in Bristol. This programme attracted families who had no prior knowledge of the music hub, or access to existing services, and linked them in to an inclusive progression pathway that ran from age 11 to adulthood.

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