Advocacy

We have considerable experience and extensive relationships within the fields of criminal justice, mental health, social justice and community music-making. We are committed to using this expertise to advocate for the people we support on a strategic and policy level

Memberships

We use our membership of the following networks to advocate for the transformative power of communal music-making:

Consultation

We carry out consultations and focus groups with service-users, delivery partners and government officials to shape our program delivery in response to current needs and agendas.

We are proactive about submitting responses to national surveys and policy papers, e.g. the recent Coates’ Review, the Private Investment in Culture Survey, and Culture White Paper. And following our submission to the Coates Review, a past-participant was invited to represent Good Vibrations at one of the government’s consultation workshops on prison education reform.

Publications

We widely disseminate research and evaluation findings on our work, to share what we have learnt, with the aim of improving future commissioning strategies, policy and therefore conditions, and life chances for the people we support.

Hosting visits

We advocate for the needs of our service-users and the efficacy of our approach when we host visits from academics, students, policy makers and commissioners.

  • We hosted the Big Lottery Fund in 2015 to inform their future grant-giving programmes for people experiencing mental health issues
  • We regularly host post-graduate students in relation to their studies
  • We host musicians from Sound Connections’ Work Shadowing Scheme to develop their practice further

Round tables and advisory groups

In 2016 we took part in ministerial round tables on ‘Arts, Health and Wellbeing in the Criminal Justice System’ and ‘The Role of Arts in Prisons’, and in 2017 we were invited to take part in an Arts Council England round table looking at how we measure quality and success.

We participate in ‘Arts Practice Development Groups’ and ‘Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Groups’ run by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service.

Events and conferences

Much of our advocacy work is carried out at conferences. For example, we recently ran workshops and presented at The International Centre for Community Music Conference, The International Society for Music Education Conference, and The Centre for Education in the Criminal Justice System Conference.

We like to positively influence public attitudes and give our participants a platform through high-profile events and award schemes:

  • Two of our participants won Koestler Awards in 2016. Hear their award-winning creations: I Don’t Know Much and Conducted Improvisation 
  • New spoken word pieces, created by our participants, have been exhibited to 1000s of people at The Southbank Centre, The Royal College of Music and Rich Mix Arts Centre between 2015 and 2017. Listen: Audio Exhibition Loop
  • In 2015, we performed at an event for dignitaries and ambassadors at The House of Commons

Media

BBC Indonesia, National Prison Radio and a variety of local radio stations and newspapers have supported us to reach wide, new audiences and tell them about gamelan and the benefits Good Vibrations can bring. This clip is on our founder, Cathy Eastburn, and is part of the BBC’s 100 Women Series.

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© 2024 Good Vibrations. All Rights Reserved. Good Vibrations is a registered charity in England and Wales (number 1126493) and in Scotland (number SC048860). Thank you for visiting.
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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