Music Hotline- phone calls for over 50s who are housebound & digitally excluded

What is it?

The Music Hotline is a free music phone call service for over 50s living in Trafford and Wythenshawe, who are not able to access social or creative activities in person.

The service aims to support connections, self-expression and creativity. Through regular music phone calls with a professional musician, residents can explore their favourite music, sing and write lyrics or poems based on their interests.

The music phone calls are particularly designed for people who are socially isolated, have low mental wellbeing, are housebound or don’t access the internet.

This is not a befriending service, it is an opportunity for individuals who struggle to engage in other services or activities to build confidence, self-expression and explore their creativity.

How does it works?

Once a referral is made through this form, a member of the String of Hearts team will then make contact with the person accessing the service to get to know them, explain how it works, and confirm the date/ time that a musician will phone them.

A String of Hearts musician will then phone the individual at the agreed time. Their phone call will last approximately 30 minutes, taking the form of getting to know each other, chatting about music they like, and singing favourite songs together with the musician playing their instrument.

The individual can join in by listening, singing, or using items around their house to make sounds such as tapping a table! They can also write lyrics based on thoughts and topics that interest them, and the musician can help them make a personal playlist to listen to at home.

At the end of the phone call, the musician will ask brief questions about the individual’s experience, to inform our evaluation. The musician will also ask if they’d like to book a further phone call in. We expect each individual to have up to six phone calls, but this will be subject to availability of the service and level of need.