Live Music and Mental Health - Innovation Labs

May 2023 - October 2023

Children in Scotland, Scottish Ensemble and the University of Stirling delivered an exciting project aiming to create opportunities for more children and young people to access the mental health and wellbeing benefits of live music.

Between May and October 2023, the project partners worked with over 80 children and young people, musicians, youth workers and mental health professionals to deliver free Innovation Labs around the country. Participants came together to enjoy interactive live music performances from pioneering orchestra Scottish Ensemble, and explore the impact of live music on young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

The Innovation Labs also included a range of fun and engaging co-design activities supporting children and adults to work together to create new ideas about how to make live music more accessible to children and young people.

Our final report identifies the barriers that exist for children and young people and suggests some innovative ways to tackle these issues. It also provides some valuable learning about the co-design process.

You can read about our activity and findings in the project report:

Please click here to read the project report

Children in Scotland also worked alongside Braw Talent and one of the project participants to create a short animation about the project:

Please click here to watch the animation

The project builds upon research conducted in 2021, exploring the impact of live music experiences on children and young people’s mental health.

You can click here to find out more about the project.

The project was funded by the Scottish Government’s Youth Music Initiative through Creative Scotland and The Rayne Foundation.

To find out more information, please email David Mackay, dmackay@childreninscotland.org.uk