Putting music in the forefront of charitably developing wellbeing
We are the largest independent provider of health and social care services to the NHS and we have set up a charitable foundation to promote wellbeing. I want to explain how the company runs the foundation as a corporate commitment to charity, how the foundation works with the charitable commitment of individual company staff, and why the foundation funds arts charities to help people with special needs in the areas in which it operates.
I also want to explain our grants policy and how we liaise with charities which are not initially successful with their applications.
Care UK serves 19 million people, through our partnerships with the NHS and through social care contracts with local authorities, and our aim is to make a real difference to all their lives. From specialist care for children as young as nine, who are living with eating disorders, to residential palliative care, we are with people throughout their journey in life.
We decided to create the Wellbeing Foundation because we wanted to provide a corporate outlet for the generosity displayed to people and charities which seems to be in the DNA of the many thousands of my colleagues in Care UK. I think that when care is what our people do in their jobs, it is natural for that to affect their lives inside and outside work, and it feels right that this caring nature is reflected in our corporate life.
Thousands of pounds
Our employees raise thousands of pounds for great causes through various initiatives every year and we wanted to support them by matching their own fundraising. We also wanted them to have an active role in the creation of the Wellbeing Foundation and the choices it makes. However, we wanted to do more to harness their collective goodwill and the foundation also gives us, at company level, a platform through which we can give back to the community.
We have kick-started the foundation with a £100,000 a year pot in addition to the £25,000 worth of donations made via our match-funding scheme. In the inaugural year of the foundation, we are focusing on promoting wellbeing through the arts.
We chose the arts because, throughout our 114 care homes, our mental health hospitals, treatment centres and our young people’s eating disorder clinics, we have seen the powerful effect which arts, crafts and music have. Not only do they raise people’s spirits and build confidence but, even in those who have lost the ability to communicate, the arts offer a voice. They give people a way to tell us how they are feeling and what emotions they want to share with us.
Our teams considered the shortlist of charities to be the foundation's Charity of the Year at the company's annual management conference and chose Nordoff Robbins. We knew that we had found a partner which combines a national scope with a very individual approach, enabling us to make a real difference to each person involved.
Nordoff Robbins supports thousands of vulnerable children and adults through life-transforming music therapy sessions. Colleagues tell us they chose the charity to be Charity of the Year because, like them, it is committed to helping the widest range of people possible lead fulfilling lives.
Tirelessly and patiently
Its therapists work tirelessly and patiently to stimulate memories, draw on people’s creativity and encourage a new kind of communication, reaching out to those who find communication and interaction difficult and for whom music becomes a real liberation and a joy.
The real difference its work makes, along with the potential for our colleagues to link with the charity and join its fundraising, are key to their success, both in being chosen and in creating a great partnership in the foundation’s first year.
But our links with the arts are not limited to Nordoff Robbins – the potential for music to open up new lines of communication is already proving invaluable in our regular work with people living with dementia.
The growth in the number of people living with dementia is one of society’s major challenges - it is estimated that, by 2015, 850,000 people in the UK will be living with the condition. As we provide support to many of these people and their families, through our residential and domiciliary services as well as through our new generation of day clubs, we wanted to take a lead in responding to the effects of this debilitating condition through commissioning research showing the benefit music brings to people’s lives.
So I am really pleased that, through the foundation, we are also working with the Manchester Camerata and Manchester University, backing a project called Music in Mind. This involved musicians from the Camerata collaborating with professional music therapists to run sessions with residents who have dementia at our Station House care home in Crewe, Cheshire.
Thought provoking analysis
I have visited one of the sessions and the way music enables residents to communicate with their relatives and the team is truly moving. The research analysis is thought provoking and will provide a valuable springboard for the university’s ongoing involvement in this important work. .
As well as these larger initiatives, the foundation’s first set of Grass Roots grants of up to £2,000 is currently being awarded. Care UK has always had an employee match-funding scheme to support the fundraising work of our services and team members in their own communities. These new grants further strengthen that established commitment to supporting colleagues’ fundraising efforts.
Our basic criteria were simple - we wanted nominated charities to be geographically close to one of our services and involved in the arts – drama, music, art, crafts or dance - but they did not necessarily have to be nominated by a member of staff, although of course we welcomed the enthusiasm of colleagues in spreading the word.
We wanted evidence of what the charities had accomplished, as well as clear statements about how the money would be used. But most importantly the nominated groups or charities had to be small and local, so that the money would make a genuine difference to what they could achieve for individuals.
Working through the nominations was, for me, enjoyable, but also rewarding and humbling - humbling because of the level of commitment and personal time given by those involved in supporting people. We wanted to be inspired by the nominations and we wanted to inspire our own people by supporting projects close to them and their communities.
Clearly not everyone could be successful, but we wanted to be as supportive as possible. We have given feedback on why a bid wasn’t successful and, if appropriate, charities have been invited to resubmit if they can give strengthened details on how the project will help the community.
Alternatively, they could have the chance to recast a submission. For example, a theatre company submitted an application for a sum several times greater than we were able to offer in community grants, so we’ve gone back to them to explain and invite them to find a project that fits the scope.
Very tangible links
In the case of our Charity of the Year, we thanked those charities which applied but, because the charity is selected solely by our people, we have not given specific feedback. When applying, I think charities need to bear in mind that the vote goes to an audience, mainly of those in the health and social care profession, who will be looking for very tangible links between the work of the charity and the benefit to the people who use the charity’s services, the people they care for.
Those who didn’t make it through to the final stages this year failed for a variety of reasons. I would suggest that any groups looking to apply to be a Charity of the Year in the future find ways of making a strong link between our work and a specific outcome of one of their charity’s projects.
Values and determination
Any charity’s application to the foundation needs to reflect the fact that shared values and determination to make a difference to people’s lives will be key, along with the opportunities to work together with Care UK employees helping with fundraising events which help build team spirit and allow our people to put something back into the project. And we will also be looking to ensure that the grant is spent wisely, with evidence in terms of case studies and pictures which we can share among our colleagues
The projects we are supporting are diverse. For example, we were very impressed with a two-person project that visits rehab clinics using song, dance and stories to support those quitting drugs or alcohol. They combine tremendous commitment and energy, making 40 clinic visits a year.
In separate projects in Brighton and Salisbury we have committed more than £3,500 for new musical instruments to groups working with young people with learning disabilities. The projects, like our own service, are committed to changing perceptions of what people with learning disabilities can achieve. In Hampshire we have brought music therapy back to a special needs school after a three-year absence through lack of funding and the staff tell us the children are already benefiting from the sessions.
In total we have already awarded nearly £10,000 to local groups and the nominations keep coming in. I am delighted to be involved in the foundation myself – it is the perfect way to make a difference to people’s lives in a very direct way.
