EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Objective

Noise Solution took part in the East and West Suffolk Transformation Plan for Children and Young Peoples Wellbeing. Further to successfully delivering under this grant (managed by the Suffolk Community Foundation) Noise Solution was awarded a 3 year Grant Agreement (2018-2021) from the Ipswich and East Suffolk & West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Groups.

Goals

The intention of the Grant Agreement was for Noise Solution to “support and help engage children and young people in challenging circumstances and improve their wellbeing” (Grant Agreement background (A) 1st April 2018). Specifically, Noise Solution was commissioned to deliver its 1:1 music mentoring service to 10 young people a year for three years. The young people were able to be referred through Looked After Children's Services, Mental Health teams, DWP, Youth Offending, Social Services, Schools, Colleges or other reasonable agencies or organisations. Noise Solution was required to report on improvements in well-being as described below.

Impact Measurement & Reporting

Noise Solution measures its impact on well-being using the Shortened Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS). We have included individual scores here as a guide only. The SWEMWBS data is not designed to be used as an individual diagnostic tool, but a way of measuring impact at a population level. The sample size is too small to be able to extrapolate meaning from here but when combined with our other work (delivered in exactly the same way) we see high statistical significance of well-being impacts across a population of 100 plus. The data captured from the participant at the start and end of a set of sessions, and the ‘distance travelled’ is statistically analysed on individual and population levels (any change over 2 is considered to be meaningful). Alongside these quantitative data, Noise Solution captures an equal amount of qualitative data in the form of the Digital Stories which is created by each participant as well as reflective feedback sought from the Participant and other involved third parties. This document seeks to report on the first year of this Grant Agreement, giving both quantitative and qualitative feedback.

Year 1 Results

The results from the first year of this Grant Agreement reflect broadly the results seen in the rest of the Noise Solution population. We see a 10% shift from low to moderate well-being, with 80% of participants finishing at, above or within a meaningful range of the national well-being average.

Qualitative feedback is also positive, with participants engaging or re-engaging with other activities and requesting further sessions with Noise Solution. Third party feedback is also positive from families and professionals alike.

These data demonstrate Noise Solutions ability to impact on well-being amongst ‘hard to reach’ populations and act as a catalyst for change after a relatively short intervention.