US music festival live streamed to patients at Chesterfield based hospice
On Friday 16th March, two patients staying in the Inpatient Unit at Ashgate Hospicecare were able to watch a live streamed Seattle music festival from the comfort of their rooms.
This was the third time the Seattle based charity Melodic Caring Project, in partnership with Chesterfield College, have bought a live concert to patients and their families at the Hospice, and the first time the patients at Ashgate Hopsice were able to enjoy a show streamed from America.
Melodic Caring Project are dedicated to filming and streaming music concerts live directly to patients battling a serious illness in hospitals and hospices and, until now, had only ever brought music to children’s hospitals. The first time Melodic Caring Project had ever streamed a concert to adults with a life-limiting illness was in Ashgate Hospicecare in December 2017. The project embraces the medically proven healing properties of music to help alleviate pain, reduce anxiety and aid in the overall wellbeing of the patient.
The charity’s debut in the UK comes as a result of Melodic Caring Project building strong links with Chesterfield College, whose staff and students provide the technical skills and equipment needed to enable the live streaming to take place. Artists who agree to be filmed will also do a personal shout out to the patients watching.
In December last year, vocal group The Overtones performed a fantastic Christmas concert for two of our patients staying in the Inpatient Unit and their families, and on 2nd March this year, Jake Bugg kindly agreed for his Nottingham performance to be live streamed to two more patients.
Sean, from Killamarsh, is staying on Ashgate Hospicecare’s Inpatient Unit. Sean said:-
“I have prostate cancer and I get very tired so watching the Jake Bugg concert certainly helped with my pain. It helped to perk me up and forget about my illness; I could just sit back and enjoy it.
“I’m a big music fan and have all of my favourite bands downloaded here on my iPad. I have many fond memories of going to music concerts – Status Quo, Madness, all sorts, throughout the years. I really enjoyed Jake Bugg’s concert and so I shall be downloading his songs now! I hope more patients will be able to see live concerts as I’m sure it will help them to feel better.”
Patients and their families who have been involved in the project said that watching a live concert brings a sense of normality back to their lives, at a time when they are simply not well enough to enjoy a night out or when their plans get frequently cancelled due to ill health.
Karen Walker, Ward Manager, said:-
“Thank you Melodic Caring Project, Chesterfield College and all of the artists involved for giving patients with a life-limiting illness the opportunity to enjoy live, personalised music concerts. We sincerely hope that we can continue to bring the joy of live music to our patients on a regular basis.”
The concert aired on Friday was the ‘17th Annual More Music @ The Moore’ presented by the Seattle Theatre Group and celebrated the rich talent of young musicians in Seattle. There were performances covering a diverse range of music styles including rock, hip hop, folk, R&B, singer-songwriter, EDM, Scottish, jazz, and more.
