The benefits of live music interaction and well-documented and highly valued for all, but for poorly children in hospitals and those with challenging emotional, physical and mental abilities music intervention can have incredible benefits.
For many years Annie has volunteered her services bringing live music to children at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, Evelina and Kings College Hospital. She and her super musical son Harry visit on a regular basis and raise lots of money for specialist music equipment through their family shows and festivals. These are the most special times and Annie and Harry would love to have time to do more and more. Every interaction is positive from distracting children during procedures, helping children to remember through music after brain tumours, encouraging movement and speech, all while bringing a little joy and fun to the whole ward with nurses, doctors, auxiliaries joining in too.
After Annie and Harry have left the ward, the children carry on listening to the Tin Pan Annie 100 songs available to stream and watching Tin Pan Annie Music on youtube.
Harry Houseago www.harryhouseago.com
I first started volunteering as a musician in Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in 2010 ( when I was 14 years old) together with my mother aka “Tin Pan Annie”. Together we made weekly whacky Wednesday visits to play live on their radio station, Radio Lollipop, whilst other play volunteers would listen in and join the fun whilst playing with the children. It was the absolute highlight of my week. Over the years I have helped run Tin Pan Annie summer camps , run workshops for underprivileged teenagers and now run the Tin Pan Annie Family Band.
Since graduating with a distinction in my music degree I have trained to visit the children on the wards with my mother and between us we can be really inclusive and are delighted to be able offer our services to all ages and needs on the children’s wards and in the hospital school from premature babies to teenagers.
