The last two years have been full years for Outsider Music. Establishing and incorporating Outsider Music as a Community Interest Company in 2019 and receiving OM’s first National Lottery Awards for All grant for ‘Music and Wellbeing’ along with NHS funding for ‘Music and Co-production’ for Barnet, Enfield and Haringey (BEHMHT) staff and adult patients at St Ann’s Hospital, and expanding the work into CAMHS Tier 4 services at the NHS Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (CREW@T4C)has set the scene for a new focus on strategic development. The success of the work in Manchester has helped to create the first project to bring together a placement student from Nordoff-Robbins as well as sustained funding for the OM programme at Galaxy House. Rosie Axon from Chiltern Music began supporting OM in 2019 with supervision and business mentoring, and bringing OM in line with all current safeguarding policies and protocols.
After its successful start-up, OM now wishes to grow sustainably in 2020. OM Grows (OMG) is the current funding application that’s underway to the National Lottery which plans to deliver the next stage of OM’s development, working more closely with clients as co-producers and co-creators. The Bridge Renewal Trust is helping OM to find future funding and sustainable options. Presentations and seminars at conferences in London, Brighton, Bristol and Dublin have been very successful in expanding the work and OM’s profile, with plans in the future to develop the unique nature of OM music therapy as a teaching module at the University of the West of England (UWE). Throughout this time OM has received ongoing support from many professionals and colleagues including Dr Edelman, Dr Lorenz (BEHMHT), Dr Barnes (UCL), Dr Chase (UWE) and Gavin Eastley (Clarendon centre) whose support has been vital in helping OM grow.
The Bridge Renewal Trust are helping OM as part of their capacity-building work to develop OM’s work, by continuing and strengthening the offer in Haringey and assessing possibilities for making OM sustainable, by identifying funding streams, rather than being dependant on charitable grants. OM also plans to look into partnerships and joint work with the third sector, including social prescribing initiatives and personalised commissioning interventions. OMG is currently working on establishing a new Strategic Advisory Board, which will include Martin Bould, Dr Paul Abeles, Elaine Collins, Alice Vahanian, expanding the reach and influence of OM’s work. OM is also looking for operational volunteers to support OM development including fund-raising and a new online platform. An OM presentation to stakeholders and organisations is planned later in 2020 in London to promote the work, share the vision and explore options for future development.