Joe Carr, Collection and Learning Curator at The Red House, has worked to develop an extensive learning and education programme for schools, families and children of all ages. Mini Music Makers is one of these initiatives, developed to engage local families with under 5s, with The Red House and with music.
The group has developed and evolved over the last year and on average 30 families attend the sessions each week. The group has turned into its own supportive community and online presence through a popular Facebook group page which has grown to over 90 members.
Prior to the recent restrictions due to COVID-19, the online presence had largely been the popular Facebook group page, which was mainly used as a platform to inform parents of activities and sessions taking place at The Red House. Since the closure of the site, a new approach was needed to help these families whilst self-isolating. Joe Carr filled us in on the new approach.
“Along the Suffolk Coast, rural isolation, poor public transport links and economic hardship create significant barriers to accessing cultural and other activities, and so the need to help families feel less isolated at this difficult time was really important. We decided to set up a musical session online through free to view videos. A request system was set up for parents, with all songs requested being filmed and posted on Facebook and YouTube so families could access.
The reaction and feedback from parents has been fantastic, it is wonderful to see how this has helped families cope in this difficult time. The comments have shown how there is a need for this engagement to help families feel less isolated. Early comments have included…
“That’s Joe’s dog!!! That’s Joe!!’ One very excited girl. Thank you!”
“Oh her face was so adorable just now hearing that song. Thank you so much for this Joe.xx”
“Look Mummy it’s Max! My two boys are loving this just before bedtime. Thank you Joe”
“Great stuff, Joe. Keeping up the morale!”
“Thank you for this, we are on 12 week lock down due to my poorly lungs so the two year old and two month old will certainly be enjoying this over the coming weeks.
“Love this, Thank you so much. Looking forward to seeing more in the coming weeks. Stay well everyone”
Requests for songs have been coming in regularly through Facebook, email and twitter. I am then posting a new song on Facebook and Twitter every day Monday-Friday. I am also running a live session every Friday at 10am-1030am. This will include some of the songs and requests that have been part of Mini Music Makers as well as from popular nursery and preschool sessions”
You can access all of the videos and live feeds on YouTube
You can also request to join the Mini Music Facebook page, which you can find through @BrittenOfficial Facebook. Here you will also find all of the song videos as well as a community support https://www.facebook.com/groups/2189043418047677/
Alternatively contact Joe Carr, Collections and Learning Curator j.carr@brittenpears.org