The countdown is on to our BBC Radio 4 appeal!
We’re delighted to announce that our appeal is going to be featured on the radio next month. Tune in between Sunday 20 April and Saturday 26 April to hear one of our music ambassadors, Carrie Grant, talk about our charity appeal.
It’s not too long to go until our appeal hits the airwaves! One of our music ambassadors, Carrie Grant, will introduce you to 14-year-old James who has cerebral palsy, visual impairment and learning difficulties.
Carrie went along to one of James’ music therapy sessions with Nordoff and Robbins music therapist Sam at a school for children with complex needs. She saw first-hand how energising and joyous music therapy is for James.
As a mother of four children who all have multiple diagnosis of special educational needs and disability, Carrie knows all too well how tough life is for young people with complex needs. The world isn’t accessible, and communication is tough – sometimes it can feel like everyone else is speaking a different language. But music connects us all. Seeing James and music therapist Sam making music together brought Carrie to tears.
James’ mum told me – ‘where there’s no music, there’s no James’.
Carrie Grant
Our Nordoff and Robbins music therapists are Masters level trained specialists. They focus on a person’s abilities, not their limitations. In music therapy sessions everyone is equal.
It’s more than music. In a world full of barriers, music therapy creates space for freedom and self-expression. Where someone experiencing mental or physical illness, disability or social isolation can finally be seen, heard and understood, without the need for words.
Music therapy sessions cost £80 each, and there are so many people who could benefit from this transformational work.
Tune in to hear James’ story
Our appeal will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 20 April (Easter Sunday) at 7.54am and 9.25pm. The three minute long feature will be repeated on Thursday 24 April at 3.27pm.
But if you don’t manage to tune in at those times, our appeal will be available to listen to on their website between Sunday 20 April and Saturday 26 April.
Carrie Grant: the voice of our appeal and Nordoff and Robbins music ambassador
Carrie Grant is set to make the broadcast appeal on our behalf in a few weeks’ time. Dr Carrie Grant MBE is a BAFTA award-winning broadcaster, vocal coach and advocate. Her career TV and music career has spanned over decades. Carrie and her husband David were awarded a MOBO award in ’98 and a BASCA in 2008 for their lifetime services to the music industry. Carrie has an MBE for Services to Music, Media and Charity plus two Honorary Doctorates.
Carrie and David produced both the biggest selling vocal coaching book and online course in the world. Together they co-host BBC Radio London’s Saturday Breakfast Show and are co-authors of their 2023 chart-topping book ‘A Very Modern Family‘. Carrie and David are parents to four children, three are birth children/one was adopted, all have special needs.
We were delighted to officially announce Carrie and David Grant as our music ambassadors earlier this month.
Carrie says: “We’re parents to four neurodivergent children. We’re all too aware that many of our most vulnerable children and adults often struggle to access the therapies they so desperately need. We’re also aware of the power of music to help and to heal. That’s why we’re supporting the work of the UK’s largest music therapy, Nordoff and Robbins. The therapists work with people living with disability, illness or facing isolation to realise their true potential through music. We have seen their work first-hand – it truly is incredible and effective, transforming the lives of those who have access to these sessions.”