Sing and Breathe Wiltshire is our singing for lung health programme, incorporating introductory courses, a weekly singing for lung health ‘maintenance’ group (the Salisbury Breathless Singers) and our Sing and Breathe Academy for families and children with childhood asthma.
Sing and Breathe Wiltshire was shortlisted for ‘Best Local Social Prescribing Project’ at the National Social Prescribing Awards 2022.
What is singing for lung health?
Singing for lung health promotes self-management of breathlessness through group singing, breathing exercises, gentle movement and relaxation. It supports people to connect their body, voice and breath and improve quality of life. Hear more from Programme Director Liv McLennan and participants from one of our many courses here
Singing for lung health in Wiltshire
The Salisbury Breathless Singers were established in 2017, after Co-Director Liv McLennan received singing for lung health training from the British Lung Foundation. We have been delivering short introductory courses since 2018 and have had our work externally evaluated. The evaluation report found our approach can have a positive effect on people’s perception of their breathlessness, offer tools for self-management and increases quality of life through social and peer support. Read the full and summary reports below.
Sing and Breathe Academy
We are excited to be piloting a project for families living with childhood asthma with two Salisbury schools in 2021-22. This project has been made possible with funding from Healthwatch Wiltshire, Wiltshire Music Connect and the Ragdoll Foundation. We will be sharing our learning from the projects later on in 2022.
Our partners
We are joined by Parish Nurse, Rose Maylin on our introductory courses and Sing and Breathe Academy. Rose has great expertise in respiratory conditions and can offer holistic nursing support during and between sessions.
Is it for me?
We work with people with lung conditions, breathlessness and long covid, adapting the techniques to individuals in the group. You do not need any experience of singing or to be able to read music – we will guide you through everything at a pace that suits you.
Read the evaluation reports
Our Projects
We work in London and the South with people with long term health conditions, people with learning disabilities and intergenerationally. Find out more about our past and current projects here.
Training
We are all community music practitioners alongside running Sounds Better CIC, so understand the training needs, the challenges, and the techniques that are most effective in the room better than anyone.
Volunteer
Depending on the role, we can offer training in facilitation, experience in working with people with long term health conditions and learning disability and a way to connect with your local community more.