Anne Miles organised this visit and was accompanied by Jenny Cobb, Jill Coggins, Pam Jones, Kate Belinis and Yvonne Squire.
\nThe group travelled by train, brilliantly executed by Anne\u2019s meticulous planning and were greeted by Julie who gave us a short history of the building and site.
\nThe house at the front of the site is the music therapy training centre. The building which houses the therapy areas and administration office is a converted electric sub-station gifted to the charity in 1976 on the back of a concert given by \u2018The Who\u2019 at Knebworth.
\nPatrons of the charity, Status Quo, also gave a concert at Knebworth in 1990 along with Paul McCartney, Elton John and Eric Clapton to raise funds. Other supporters include The Arsenal Foundation, and an affiliation with The Royal Albert Hall.
\nThe recently refurbishment has taken 18 months from inception to completion with months of consultation with architects, music therapists and the wider community.
\nThe ground floor has a large group therapy area, a medium sized therapy room with a viewing gallery, and one further, smaller therapy room. The upper floor is the operational hub of the charity.
\nElaine McGregor, the music therapist running the Saturday sessions, gave a short synopsis of each child we were able to observe from the viewing gallery. We split into two groups of three so we could each have 15 minutes in the gallery.
\nThe first was a young girl who is autistic, whose favourite song was \u2018The Wheels on the Bus\u2019. Even when Elaine changed the tune to \u2018Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star\u2019, she carried on with her actions and singing.
\nThe second was a young boy with cerebral palsy and problems with verbalisation. Elaine explained that he uses the word \u2018apple\u2019, not because he\u2019d like one but it is a word he knows and can communicate with.
\nIn between we were treated to our own session! We were each given a different musical instrument and had to create a short rhythmic piece that was easy to repeat. Elaine directed the music encouraging us to play louder, softer, some stopping, then starting again. Then we had a \u2018jam\u2019 session when we went freeform, each of us having a solo. We had such fun…especially Jill…..who really let her hair down!
\nWe finished with coffee and Julie answering our questions and explaining the work of the charity, not only in this country but also in other parts of the world.
\nIt was a fantastic and inspiring morning and we all came away pleased that the money raised at our annual Quiz Night had been used to purchase instruments which are so important for the work of the therapists and understanding more of the work of the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy charity.<\/p>\n
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