Community
This year has been defined by delivery and meaningful impact, demonstrating at scale how music transforms lives, improves wellbeing, and strengthens communities.
Our first full year as the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia marks a significant achievement and major step forward in our mission. With twelve Music Cafés now open across all ten boroughs, and a further 8 committed over the next year, they are providing spaces of connection, creativity, and joy for people living with dementia and their carers.
In total, during 2024-25, Camerata delivered an extraordinary 380 weekly Music in Mind sessions across Greater Manchester through the Centre of Excellence funding, involving over 4,000 participant sessions. Beyond this, a further 188 weekly sessions ran independently across Oldham, Rochdale, Wigan, and Manchester, providing more than 1,100 additional participant sessions. These figures reflect the scale of growth and the appetite from communities to be part of Camerata’s work.
In addition, the Centre of Excellence established a National Learning Network of 60 organisations and more than 160 individuals, all united in their commitment to using music to transform dementia care. At the same time, our partnership with The University of Manchester continues to generate robust evidence of impact. A study published this year, evaluating our 20-week Music in Mind training programme for care home staff, reported a general increase in their motivation, wellbeing, and confidence. Further evaluation by Healthcare Analytics of our previous UKRI-funded programme also reported on the positive impact that being part of Music in Mind sessions had for people living with dementia.
Over the past year, we have recruited 85 new Music Champions, more than halfway to our three-year target. These exceptional volunteers trained by Camerata’s musicians and music therapists allow the Music in Mind model to scale up and be used independently in a variety of care settings.
We increased our international presence with successful Music in Mind training visits to Hong Kong and Taiwan, demonstrating the global relevance and adaptability of our approach. These visits forged new partnerships and showcased Camerata’s unique blend of artistic excellence and social purpose to international partners.
Alongside our dementia work, Camerata has continued to expand its children and young people’s programmes. Highlights included projects with Webster Primary School, the Youth Culmination Event at Factory International, and the New Connections project in Leeds. Additional collaborations with Orchestras Live in Withernsea, and performances in Cannock, continued to celebrate the role that creativity can play in bringing joy, connection, and a sense of belonging.
Looking Forward
In 2025-26, as part of the 2nd year of the Centre of Excellence programme, we aim to expand our international partnerships and pilot a new live well through music initiative, which will focus on broadening our support through music to the health and wellbeing of young people with autism, additional needs and those needing support with their mental health.
Through all of this, the shared goal with our communities and donors remains unwavering – to use the power of music to create impactful human connections, both in Greater Manchester and beyond.
