Carers’ Music Fund

The Centre is the learning evaluation partner for the Spirit of 2012 Carers’ Music Fund. Our role is to support grantees in measuring the impact of their interventions. We will also research how the Fund impacts carers’ wellbeing and feelings of loneliness.

• Read the first insight report in the series – When we sing it sounds like there are more of us: Findings from the first cohort of the Carer’s Music Fund
• See how projects are sustaining a wellbeing focus through the pandemic
• Listen to the podcast: Singing hurries along friendship: a Carers’ Music Fund insights podcast 

The final evaluation report will be published by Spirit of 2012 on 23 June 2021, alongside their Carers’ Music Fund summit (register here).

Our final reflections document looks at some of the key insights from our partnership working and findings from the programme-level evaluation.

More about the Fund

The Carers’ Music Fund targets women and girls who are isolated because of their caring responsibilities. The 10 projects will engage them in music activities with the aim of reducing loneliness, improving their mental health and wellbeing.

The ten projects – seven of which are in England, with one each in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – vary hugely in their approaches to engaging female carers. In Birmingham, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), through partnerships with Midland Mencap and Quench Arts, will engage with a range of existing groups who focus on areas such as mental health, disability and specific cultural communities, while also trying to reach those who may not consider themselves to be carers.

Loneliness among carers is extremely high: 8 in 10 say they are socially isolated because of their caring responsibilities, and according to ONS figures carers are 22% more likely to experience mental ill health than the general population.