News and blogs

Recruiting: Chair of the Board of Trustees

Good Vibrations is an award-winning, national arts organisation that changes lives through music. We work with some of the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach people in the UK, including in prisons, secure hospitals, and in the community. We are best…

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We are looking for new trustees!

Closing date for applications: Friday 15th March Location: Board meetings in London 4 times a year, plus subcommittee meetings online Unpaid position, expenses covered 2x Positions Available Good Vibrations is a national arts organisation that changes lives through music.…

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In Conversation: Loophole Music

Fay, an occupational therapist, and Kieran, a Loophole Music facilitator, talk about one of our secure hospital projects and the impact it has had on one particular service user. Fay: Dean has been in hospital for over ten years.…

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My experience of leaving prison during the pandemic

  January 2022 Author and artist Ruinbow writes for Good Vibrations about their experience of leaving prison during the pandemic.   People imagine that being released from prison would be a euphoric moment, but it is actually really stressful. Counterintuitively,…

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My Good Vibrations experience and why it works

November 2021 Author: Benjamin Yacoub, Talent Manager at Twisted Passion Ent Entering prison with a lengthy sentence to some is the end of the world. Although many give up and get involved with the drug culture to escape the…

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Good Vibrations Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21

October 2021 Jonathan Hollow writes: We are delighted to share our 2020-21 annual report and accounts with you. I’ve been very proud to be Chair of Good Vibrations, so it’s with some regret that I pen my last overview…

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From prison art to lockdown art to…

Author and artist Ruinbow writes for Good Vibrations about how he got into art while in prison, his experience of being an art mentor, and his drive to make art accessible for all.   I did not take to…

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The wheelchair is invisible

On 11 April, Linda Yates, Margaret Smith and Heather Strohschein presented The wheelchair is invisible – a conversation about accessibility and inclusivity in the time of Covid  at MACSEM 2021, a conference organised by the Mid-Atlantic Chapter for the…

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Good Vibrations’ film premiere

On the evening of 21st May, Good Vibrations hosted the film premiere of Beyond Performance, within an intimate, online event attended by the artists who created it, plus an invited audience. The film combines an eclectic mix of shadow…

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Opening Up – Collective Joy in Prison and Beyond

‘Hozho is not something you can experience on your own, the eagles tell us as they lock talons in the stratosphere and fall to the earth as one.  Hozho is interbeauty.’  Lyla June Johnston – Hozho   As a…

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Music as a form of communication and healing

Guest Author: Anu Koechli As human beings one of the most fascinating elements of our species is our creative capabilities with the creation and development of music over tens of thousands of years. Recent technological developments over the last few…

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Our 2019-20 annual report and accounts

We are delighted to share our 2019-20 annual report and accounts with you. Like everyone, we write this report looking back on the year from the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic. Current circumstances are so unusual for everyone that…

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Design and build a new digital gamelan

Author: Good Vibrations National charity, Good Vibrations is calling for developers to submit proposals to design and build a new digital gamelan. Organisations and individuals who are interested should view and download the full brief here. Deadline for expressions…

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Remembering our patron Rahayu Supanggah

We are very saddened that our wonderful patron, Rahayu Supanggah, has passed away. He supported Good Vibrations for many years and was an incredibly talented composer and musician. He lived a long and full life, with over fifty years…

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Self soothing practice

(Guest author: Elma Chapman) Self Soothing Practice Finger Holds The Ancient Art of Harmonising life energy in the body My destiny is in my own hands – Mary Burmeister The truth is that within each of us lies the…

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Restarting Covid-safe frontline delivery

“Enjoying it so much they didn’t want to stop“ Good Vibrations’ experience of returning to front-line delivery post Covid Six months ago, to protect participants and team members from the pandemic, Good Vibrations made the heart-breaking decision to stop…

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A facilitator point of view

Some thoughts about working for Good Vibrations as a facilitator – Laurence Rugg “Punishment is the last and least effective instrument in the hands of the legislator for the prevention of crime.”  John Ruskin (1819 – 1900 art critic…

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Benjamin Zephaniah’s Radio 4 appeal for Good Vibrations

From the 9-15 August 2020, Professor Benjamin Zephaniah, presented a BBC Radio 4 appeal on behalf of Good Vibrations. You can listen to his three-minute appeal here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lmj5. It tells his story, and the story of Good Vibrations’ participant,…

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Would you like to be described as ‘mental’?

Guest author: Elma Chapman Having experienced 13 episodes of detainment in hospital, I cannot ignore that ‘Mental’ Health is an important part of my Life Journey, but it does not identify who I am. It made me reflect on…

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Good Vibrations adapts in response to Covid-19

Author: Good Vibrations The pandemic has hit charities hard, and their beneficiaries even harder. But Good Vibrations, an award-winning national charity, using communal music-making to support people with complex needs, has throughout lock-down, developed creative ways to stay connected…

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A moment in the spotlight

Jonathan Hollow, Chair of Good Vibrations, writes about the experience of preparing for a BBC Radio 4 Appeal. “Why don’t we apply for the Radio 4 Appeal?” our trustee Pete Knapton asked at one of our board meetings last…

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Positive family relationships help reduce the chances of re-offending

Author: Good Vibrations This beautiful comic was created by Studio Lindsay (@Studio.Lindsay) for The New Issue magazine in 2020. It was based on a Big Issue North article by Deborah Mulhearn about her visit to a Good Vibrations family…

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Our creative response to lockdown

Author: Good Vibrations We’ve been coming up with some creative ways to keep people connected and entertained during lockdown. Here are three fantastic videos that our team have made to celebrate gamelan and Wayang puppetry. x Kitchen Gamelan We…

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FEAR – and how to manage it

Guest author: Elma Chapman Fear is our bodies’ language and yet so often we want to shut it up! It is an emotion within ourselves. An emotion in itself is not harmful, therefore why do people so dislike feeling…

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Gamelan music and percussion workshop – free!

We are excited to offer our first online gamelan workshop led by musician and Good Vibrations facilitator Nikki. x Monday 20th July 11.00-12.00 Gamelan music and percussion An introduction to Indonesian Gamelan music. Gamelan is a brass percussion orchestra…

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Members of our Resonate project interview Bill Bailey

One of Good Vibrations’ patrons, talented musician and comedian, Bill Bailey, gave members of our Glasgow Resonate group an exclusive interview earlier this year. The experience gave them an insight into how he handles nerves when performing, why he…

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Exploring Performance

We’re delighted to launch a short film about Exploring Performance – a fantastic idea conceived by our Glasgow Resonate group. You can watch it here. On this project, group members interviewed and improvised with famous world music artists, Bill…

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Good Vibrations statement on Coronavirus

The welfare of our participants, our team and our colleagues in partner organisations is of paramount importance. As a precaution, we have therefore taken the decision to suspend all face-to-face activities and meetings until further notice. We are very…

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We are recruiting for an Admin & Comms Co-ordinator

We are looking for an Admin & Comms Co-ordinator to provide marketing and administrative support across our charity’s programmes and services. This role will involve: Co-ordinating and distributing project paperwork Updating the participant progression and support database Writing up…

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Loophole Music – providing stimulation and a safe space for self-expression at Bethlem Royal Hospital

Loophole Music is a communal music making project at the Bethlem Royal Hospital in South London supporting patients’ wellbeing and recovery. The Maudsley Charity are generously supporting this project over three years, with funding coming from The National Foundation for…

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Good Vibrations’ 2020 Charity Auction

Bill Bailey invites you to support Good Vibrations’ 2020 Charity Auction. Win amazing gifts and experiences, whilst supporting a fantastic charity. Experiences and gifts up for grabs this year: A luxury weekend break in Cumbria for 14-18 people A…

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We’re looking for trustees with experience in diversity or marketing & communications

Good Vibrations is a national charity, using music to help people in prisons, secure hospitals and community settings to grow their transferable skills, confidence and well-being. We have been a charity since 2008 and have supported 9,000 people across…

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Live in Glasgow or Nottingham? Want to try something new this year?

Good Vibrations is running free, weekly gamelan music and drumming sessions in the community in Glasgow and Nottingham. We’d love new people to come and see what they think. They’re open to all and you don’t need to have…

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Big Issue North’s article on our work in prison with families

On 16 December 2019, Big Issue North ran an article on our work with men at HMP Liverpool and their families. Deborah Mulhearn’s article brilliantly evokes the sounds and emotions of these projects: “The prison chapel at HM Prison…

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Good Vibrations’ 2018-19 annual report and accounts

We’re delighted to share our 2018-19 annual report and accounts – full of pictures, quotes, stats and infographics. Find out more about the 729 participants we have helped over the last year from The Highlands to the Isle of…

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Good Vibrations in the Prison Service Journal

We are delighted to announce that an in-depth article about Good Vibrations has been published in a special edition of the Prison Service Journal which looks at the impact of the Arts in Prison. Entitled “Music, Education and Opportunity”,…

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Creative Scotland and the Spirit of Hope

We are delighted to announce that Creative Scotland has awarded us with £33,800 to grow our highly successful Resonate project in Glasgow in 2018 and ’19. This project will see us work once again with the city’s beautiful Spirit…

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Help us crowd-fund The Gamelan Project

We’re crowdfunding for our Gamelan Project – to raise £3,000 by the end of February to help us support 100s more people with complex needs in 2018 through the impactful and unique medium of gamelan music-making. You can help…

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Volunteering with Crisis at Christmas

We were delighted to be part of the amazing Crisis at Christmas volunteer effort in London on the 25th and 27th December, an event that provides help for homeless people at a critical time of year. Good Vibrations’ facilitator,…

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Daisy Beau – the human jukebox

In autumn 2017, we ran the 2017 Bill Bailey Fundraising Award competition. The aim was for entrants to come up with creative ways to raise money for Good Vibrations, and winners received lots of Bill Bailey goodies – tour…

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Good Vibrations’ new 2016-17 annual report

We are delighted to share our new 2016-17 annual report and accounts with you. Full of photos, infographics and quotes, it tells you the story of the year, and sums up the impact our unique approach is having on people and institutions…

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“I was anti-Jobcentre, but now I’m pleased with it” (A participant)

Good Vibrations is actively seeking to partner with more Jobcentre Plus branches, across the country, to support their long-term unemployed clients with disabilities and chronic health conditions to become more work-ready. Over the last two years, we have supported 36…

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Vote for Loophole Music Funding!

Please can you spare 5 minutes to cast your vote for Aviva to fund our Loophole Music project? It will cost you nothing but your time but will make a great difference to the people we work with. Please…

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Gongs for veterans

When most people think of war veterans, they don’t usually picture them playing South East Asian gongs. But visitors to a project in London last week may have a different view. In October, 16 veterans and their family members…

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Music and movement with young people in Mansfield

In August 2017, Good Vibrations delivered an uplifting and sensory project with Nottinghamshire partners, Inspire Culture and Square Peg. It was a week-long gamelan music and expressive movement course with young people attending Myplace in Mansfield. Supported by The…

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Good Vibrations at Work in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

On the 19th September, Good Vibrations ran team-building workshops with thirty staff from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland at their annual Teaching and Learning Conference. Run by experienced facilitator, Mags Smith, these workshops gave staff the opportunity to bond…

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Free Effective Facilitation Workshop In York

Youth Music is funding Good Vibrations to run a series of immersive, day-long effective facilitation workshops for music and arts practitioners working with people in challenging circumstances. Our next one is on the 29th November 2017, and it’s a…

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Become a trustee

Much of the success of Good Vibrations is down to our incredibly talented and dedicated team of facilitators, staff, trustees and volunteers. And, we are currently on the look out for more individuals to join our Board of Trustees. So…

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Music sessions for well-being

From August – December 2017, we will be running weekly gamelan sessions at Campbell House in Gartnavel Hospital, Glasgow. Taking place on Thursday afternoons, these sessions will enable members of the public to discover the resonant sounds of the…

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Play-through at HMP Chelmsford

On the morning of 22nd September 2017, men at HMP Chelmsford will be putting on a gamelan performance, as a culmination of a week’s work, learning to play this orchestra. If you are interested in attending this informal concert,…

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Bursaries available

We are offering bursaries to support people who have completed a course with us, to go on and experience other music or arts short courses. These bursaries can cover up to 90% of the cost of the course. To…

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Supporting army veterans

On the 20th October 2017, army veterans at Stoll House in London, will be putting on a gamelan performance, as the culmination of a week’s work. This is our first project, specifically for ex-service personnel, thanks to funding from…

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Novel team-building days for corporates

Looking for something completely different for your next work team-building day? Why not book Good Vibrations to run a gamelan workshop with your team? Watch this short film to get a taste of what it’s all about. “I’ve learned so much about…

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Motivation to change for men convicted of sexual offences

In 2015, a UK sex offender treatment prison collaborated with Nottingham Trent University to investigated the influence of gamelan courses with convicted sexual offenders, to ascertain if there were changes in participants in relation to readiness to change or…

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Winner of the Cathy and Lois Eastburn Award for Creativity

This August we awarded Earl Ellis, from our Loophole Music project in Kent, with the 2017 Cathy and Lois Eastburn Award for Creativity. He was selected as the winner of this award for: displaying a strong commitment to the group…

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Good Vibrations and older people

Bath Spa University and The University of Worcester carried out peer-reviewed research into the impact of Good Vibrations’ gamelan projects on the older offender population. Research findings included that: The project helps older offenders to find an identity Completing…

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Good Vibrations 2015-16 Annual Report

We’re delighted to share our 2015-16 annual report with you, celebrating the successes of the last year. View our 2015-16 Annual Report here

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Good Vibrations invites bids for its new website design and build

Good Vibrations invites bids to design and build its public website. Bids should be submitted to Katy Haigh via email (katy@good-vibrations.org.uk) by 12pm on Thursday 19th January 2017. The key messages we want to communicate through our new website…

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Resonate

An overview: On Thursday afternoons at Campbell House, Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow Participants welcome to make donations to Good Vibrations These are the sessions we’ll be running: Resonate: Connect (12:30-13:30pm) – Discover the resonant sounds and music of the…

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Free Effective Facilitation Workshops

Youth Music has funded Good Vibrations to run a series of immersive, day-long Effective Facilitation workshops for music practitioners working with young people in challenging circumstances. On 26th February 2017 we will be running a free workshop in central…

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Arts, culture and innovation in criminal justice settings

Good Vibrations is proud to be a best-practice case study in The National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance’s new guide for those with responsibility for supporting the education, health, wellbeing and reintegration into society of individuals within the Criminal Justice…

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Everyone can play Gamelan

Funding from Arts Council England and Creative Scotland is enabling us to run regular Gamelan sessions in London, Glasgow and Nottingham for everyone to enjoy. Whether you’re young or old, an experienced musician or a novice, this is for…

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Good Vibrations in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation

A 2016 article about Good Vibrations’ impact in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation says: “Perhaps most interesting is the finding that the initial positive changes observed in some individuals seem to prompt continued positive change. Indeed, those men whom we were…

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Accessible Gamelan and expressive movement workshops in Glasgow

From the first of August we will be running accessible and inclusive Gamelan workshops at the Royal Conservatoire in Scotland. Funded by Creative Scotland, this project will enable people with learning disabilities, dementia, austistic spectrum disorders and complex needs…

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Recruiting more trustees

We are actively on the lookout for new people to join our Board of Trustees this summer; people with significant legal, financial, business development, fundraising, strategic and/or corporate experience. We are also keen to find people who have been through…

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Keep In Touch Program Co-ordinator

We’re recruiting for a Keep In Touch Program Co-ordinator volunteer to support us to get even better at supporting participants once they complete courses. This is a 3-month placement and we’re ideally looking for someone who can volunteer weekly…

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BBC films us jamming

BBC Indonesia made this fantastic film about our charitable and fundraising work at our Jamelan event at the Royal College of Music at the end of 2015. http://www.bbc.com/…/multimedia/2016/01/151231_video_jamelan. You can donate too by texting GOOD22£3 to 70070.  

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Come to our community Gamelan sessions in Nottingham!

If you live in Nottingham, why not learn to play the amazing gongs, drums and metallophones of the Indonesian Gamelan orchestra? Come to our community Gamelan sessions in 2016. No musical experience is needed – suits complete beginners to experienced…

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Fingerprints!

Fingerprints is a state of the art print workshop in HMP Thameside’s Enterprise Unit. They support the rehabilitation of inmates by training and guiding them in the world of print to prepare them for work on the outside. Fingerprints…

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Transactional Analysis for Better Communication Skills

On 12th January, Stacey Raymen from Mosaic Training ran a really useful session for our team on Transactional Analysis For Better Communications Skills. Her session covered a considerable amount of content at a good pace, and the team really…

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Good Vibrations Annual Report 2015

Click here to download the Good Vibrations Annual Report 2015

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Can playing in an Indonesian percussion orchestra help people who’ve been unemployed for years to build confidence and get more work-ready?

Surrey, Sussex and Berkshire District Jobcentre Plus piloted an extraordinary programme this October with 20 long-term unemployed clients, 78% of whom considered themselves to have a disability or health condition. The group learnt to play an Indonesian tuned-percussion orchestra…

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London Jamelan

On Tuesday 15th December 2015, Good Vibrations is hosting the second of its musical improvisation extravaganzas, courtesy of the support and generosity of RCM Sparks at the Royal College of Music. This will be a day of music-making open…

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York Jamelan

On Wednesday 18th November, we are running a fundraising event at the University of York. It’s called Jamelan and it’s a fun, improvised, marathon, music-making day. Sponsored players will work together over a 10 hour period to create an…

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Annual General Meeting

We are holding our AGM on Thursday 22nd October at 6pm at our Head Office in London. If you would like to come along, please contact info@good-vibrations.org.uk. This is an opportunity for us to present our Annual Report and…

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Good Vibrations at the House of Commons

Good Vibrations was thrilled to be invited to the UK launch of the ASEAN Insight campaign and to celebrate the appointment of Richard Graham MP as Trade Envoy to the ASEAN Economic Community on the 29th September. We put…

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Good Vibrations at Work – ‘stress release; bond with coleagues’

On 9th February we supported 15 teachers at a Barnet primary school to develop their creativity, leadership, communication, problem-solving and team-working skills through a Good Vibrations at Work Team-Building Day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYFjnZ8yHnY The feedback we got from participants about the…

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Musical development and positive identity change

Dr. Jennie Henley’s article discussing musical development and positive identity change in prisoners (drawing on Good Vibrations in th UK, the Oakdale Prison Choir in the US and the Casa da Musica programme in Portugal) is now published on the EU…

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Bill Bailey has come on board as our new patron

We’re absolutely thrilled to announce that Bill Bailey has come on board as our new patron. Comedian, actor and musician, Bill Bailey has been one of Britain’s most influential celebrities of the 21st Century. With an eclectic career spanning…

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On the move!

In October 2014, Good Vibrations moved to a new office in the vibrant Rich Mix Arts Centre and Cinema in Shoreditch, London. Good Vibrations is sharing their new office, with Sound Connections, an organisation that gets more young people…

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Professor Alison Liebling’s speech about therapeutic value of arts in prisons

Professor Alison Liebling’s presentation at the Sharing Good Vibrations event (back in October – it’s taken a while to get this on here!) was thoughtful and inspiring.  As well as an overview of various studies of arts in prisons (including…

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New book, The Good Prison, featuring Good Vibrations

Gerard Lemos, a highly respected author, prison policy expert and Co-Director of social policy thinktank Lemos & Crane, has a new book out, The Good Prison. In it he argues that conscience, formed by family relationships and reinforced through…

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Listen to a radio programme produced by and featuring Good Vibrations participants at Whatton Prison

This short “radio programme” was produced by and features interviews with participants in Good Vibrations projects at Whatton Prison.  This programme was produced in-house at the prison and presented at the Sharing Good Vibrations conference in October 2013.  Grateful…

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Cathy’s moving on: exciting job opportunity at Good Vibrations!

Sadly Cathy will be leaving Good Vibrations at the end of May, after more than 10 years at the helm!  She is leaving Good Vibrations in an excellent state: with a fantastic and highly-regarded team of facilitators, a healthy…

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Working It Out project

We don’t often get to take photos of our groups (it’s rarely possible nowadays to get permission to take a camera into a prison) so here’s a shot of a group of young people doing a Good Vibrations project…

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Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick’s, speech at Sharing Good Vibrations now online

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick, gave one of the keynote speeches at October’s Sharing Good Vibrations event.  His speech is online here.  In his speech Nick said: “Having now seen Gamelan workshops in prisons, talked to…

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From last week’s project at HMP Whatton…

One of last week’s partiicpants at Whatton Prison started the project very reluctantly.  Initially he refused to move from the doorway, as he thought he would probably want to leave straight away. However he slowly relaxed and joined in,…

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New! and FREE! Weekly Good Vibrations sessions at the Southbank Centre

From mid-January will be running weekly Good Vibrations sessions for ex-Good Vibrations participants and others who want to take part.  They will be on Monday evenings, 7-9pm at the Southbank Centre.  As well as learning about gamelan, participants will…

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Short film documenting the Sharing Good Vibrations event

 Happy New Year to all Good Vibrations friends and supporters!  Here’s a really brilliant short film about the Sharing Good Vibrations event in October.  Thanks to But We Blew It Productions for doing such a great job documenting the…

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Sharing Good Vibrations promotional video

Here’s a short video about the forthcoming Sharing Good VIbrations event, produced and directed by Russ, a Good Vibrations participant, gamelan student, and emerging stand-up comedian.  Thanks also to Alex Odam for excellent filming and editing.

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Fantastic performance at Koestler Opening Day!

A group of 15 of us – past Good Vibrations participants from various different projects in prisons, probation and with NEET young people, plus some Good Vibrations team members and a couple of willing volunters who’d NEVER played gamelan…

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Feedback from Good Vibrations at Whatton September 2013

We’ve just seen the feedback from guys at Whatton Prison 2 weeks ago (and also learnt that all but two of them have done the work necessary to attain an OCN Teamworking Skills Level 1 qualification!): “There’s nothing to…

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Good Vibrations group performing at Koestler Exhibition opening day

The Koestler Trust annual exhibition of art by prisoners etc, curated this year by Mercury Award winning rap artist Speech Debelle, opens next week at the Southbank. Public opening day on Tuesday 24 September from 10am. A Good Vibrations…

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Programme for Sharing Good Vibrations event now online

A fantastic four days full to the brim with fascinating speakers and inspiring practical workshops!  The Sharing Good Vibrations event, being hosted by Southbank Centre from 17-20 October to mark 10 years of Good Vibrations, is shaping up to…

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New Friends of Good Vibrations scheme launched!

We’ve set up a new scheme, the Friends of Good Vibrations, to enable individual supporters of our work to give a modest donation every month, either through a Stading Order or BT MyDonate. It’s easy to join and set…

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Successful first Good Vibrations course at HMP Pentonville, July 2013

Excellent first course at HMP Pentonville last week, working with VPs (Vulnerable Prisoners).  VPs are kept separately from other prisoners, for their own safety, and therefore have far fewer opportunities to engage in positive group activities.  Sample feedback from…

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Sharing Good Vibrations – celebrating 10 years of Good Vibrations, at the Southbank Centre from Thursday 17 October – Sunday 20 October 2013.

Join us for four days of workshops, presentations, debates and performances as we highlight the creative, important and inspiring work done with gamelan (and other artforms) in criminal justice and the community. Over the four days of events we…

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Update on funding

Lots of exciting news on the fundraising front!  Recently we have received notification of the following grants and donations: a two year grant from Arts Council England of £39,000 each year; a grant from Youth Music of £50,000 towards…

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Good Vibrations at Lincoln Prison last week

Very positive feedback last week from men and staff at Lincoln Prison.  Recently the subject of an unfavourable report by the inspectorate, the prison is putting in place many new measures to ensure a decent and rehabilitative regime, including…

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Good Vibrations case study in new book “Interventions in Criminal Justice”

A new book, “Interventions in Criminal Justice”, out shortly, has a chapter by Laura Caufield and Professor David Wilson on the role of arts in prisons.  Good Vibrations is used as a case study.  The rest of the book…

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Good Vibrations sessions at Celebrating Performing Arts in Prisons conference

Good Vibrations has been invited to run workshops at next Tuesday’s “Celebrating Performing Arts in Prisons” conference at the Southbank Centre.  Good Vibrations’ Founder and Director, Cathy Eastburn, will also take part in the morning’s panel discussion.  Other organisations…

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Article about Good Vibrations in Music Education Research

There’s an article about Good Vibrations in the latest edition of Music Education Research.  It pulls together findings from longitudinal studies of Good Vibrations participants over the last few years, showing that participating in Good Vibrations inspires positive change…

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Good Vibrations talk at the Royal College of Psychiatrists

Director of Good Vibrations, Cathy Eastburn, and colleagues will be speaking at the Royal College of Psychiatry on Wednesday 19 September.  Click here for info

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Some feedback from lads at Swinfen Hall YOI…

We got some great feedback from lads at Swinfen Hall Young Offenders Institution. Particularly good to hear this bearing in mind that, of the 14 who did the project, all but one were considered by the prison to be…

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Presentation about Good Vibrations at Asian Psychological Conference in Jakarta this week

From July 4th to 7th Dr Laura Caulfield – author of ‘Promoting Positive Change’ – of the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University, UK, will be speaking at the Asian Psychological Association conference, Tarumanagara University, Jakarta.  The…

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Launch of Good Vibrations Open Voices pilot at Holloway Prison

Yesterday we started our pilot Open Voices project at Holloway Prison.  Nearly 40 women turned up for the first session – and they loved it!  Prison officers in attendance also joined in.  And we hear that there was singing…

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Good Vibrations invited to speak at Institute of Education conference on 13 June

Good Vibrations’ Founder and DIrector, Cathy Eastburn, will be talking about Good Vibrations’ work, ethos and evidence for its impact at the Institute of Education on Wednesday 13 June as part of the IoE’s Centre for Education in the…

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Good Vibrations part of the Gong Festival

This week’s Good Vibrations project at Deerbolt Young Offenders Institution is being run as part of the Gong Festival, an annual celebration of “northern gamelan”.  See the Gong Festival’s website for more details…. Cathy, 10 May 2012

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Good Vibrations video

At last we’ve got round to uploading to Youtube this great short film about Good Vibrations!  Filmed at Peterborough Prison by Prison Video Magazine, and edited by Claire Guillon, it gives a brilliant insight into how we work – including…

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Recent pictures and music

We’ve got together some pictures and music from our most recent “Working It Out” project, run in December.  About twice a year, we run one week “gamelan challenges” at the Southbank Centre for young people doing an employability skills…

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Article in Inside Time

Nice article in recent “inside Time” including interviews with two Good Vibrations participants. (see page 5)

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A Good Vibrations word cloud….

A word cloud created out of a large sample of Good Vibrations participants’ feedback from 2010 and 2011…  

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Chief Inspector of Prisons speech focusing on central role of education in prisons, using Good Vibrations as good example

Nick Hardwick, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons (and former trustee of Good Vibrations) gave the Prison Education Trust Annual Speech on 18 October.  His wide-ranging speech included looking at his experiences in the role, describing what has most…

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Big Lottery Fund, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Musicians’ Company all supporting our work

Brilliant news from the Big Lottery Fund, the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and the Worshipful Company of Musicians, all of whom have decided to support our work.  The Big Lottery Fund has agreed a five-year grant of up to £40,000…

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Some typical feedback from a Good Vibrations group…

Some great feedback from the Good Vibrations group at Dovegate Prison last week, a good summary of what Good Vibrations is all about…. ‎”I’ve learnt not to give up at the first hurdle.”  “[I’ve learnt that] life is what…

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Arts Council England award grant to Good Vibrations

Great news! we’ve been awarded a grant of up to £70,000 from Arts Council England towards our work programme over the next two years.  In an environment of severe funding cutbacks this is fabulous news and reflects the Arts…

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Our response to the Ministry of Justice’s Green Paper “Breaking the Cycle”

Last week we submitted our response to the MoJ’s Green Paper on the future of prison rehabilitation.  Good Vibrations welcomes the Green Paper and its clear intention to focus on effective ways of rehabiltating prisoners and therefore bring down…

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Good Vibrations receives Lloyds Charities Award

Good VIbrations was a recipient of one of this year’s Lloyds Charities Awards.  Our Chair, Andy Prindl, accepted the award on Good VIbrations’ behalf at a reception at the Lloyds Building in the City of London on 14 December.…

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Article about Good Vibrations and women prisoners

October 2010: There’s an article by Laura Caulfield and Professor David Wilson from Birmingham City University in the current Journal of Social Criminology about the impact of Good VIbrations on women prisoners.  Having interviewed women prisoners and prison staff…

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First Good Vibrations annual report and accounts

We’ve just signed off our first annual report & accounts since we set up as an independent charity in April 2009. As well as providing the information required by the Charity Commission, we have taken the opportunity to describe…

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16 June 2010: New research report concludes that Good Vibrations can help rehabilitate prisoners

A team of researchers from Birmingham City University’s Department for Applied Criminology are publishing a report tomorrow, called Continuing Positive Change, which looks at the long-term impact on Good Vibrations participants.  They have found long-term and positive impacts on…

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Good Vibrations now an approved intervention in High Security Prisons

Good Vibrations has recently been awarded “Approved Regime Intervention” status by the Directorate of High Security Prisons. Basically this means that we are now officially recognised as an effective tool for high security prisons in their efforts to reduce…

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Freedom of expression

An article in the latest Public Service Review (Home Affairs) about Good Vibrations and the case for arts in prisons generally: Professor David Wilson and Laura Caulfield, of Birmingham City University’s Centre for Applied Criminology, highlight the arts-based project…

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Welcome to Good Vibrations

Good Vibrations is a registered charity (number 1126493) that helps prisoners, secure hospital patients, ex-prisoners and others in the community develop crucial life and work skills, through participating in intensive gamelan (Indonesian bronze percussion) courses. Since 2003, Good Vibrations…

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“I can see a bit of tomorrow now”

PARTICIPANT, PETERBOROUGH PRISON

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Message to all our participants

Are you interested in playing in Good Vibrations performances on the out? Or could you help us learn from your experience by completing a questionnaire or talking to one of our friendly researchers? Or just let us know how…

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Good Vibrations play-throughs – your invitation

Every Good Vibrations course culminates in an informal performance in front of an audience. The play-throughs last around 45 minutes and there is the chance afterwards to chat to the participants, the Good Vibrations facilitators, and staff from the…

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Photography by Toby Madden/The Independent, Osman Deen/South London Press, Camilla Panufnik, Elspeth Van Der Hole, GDA Design, Gigi Chiying Lam, G. Bland, Alan Bryden, Mark Carlin, Rachel Cherry, Francois Boutemy, Andy Hollingworth, Rebaz Yassin, and Guy Smallman.

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