Mapping Music Activities for Education, Social Care, Health and Wellbeing in Hull, UK

It is important for people to be able to find out about and access music activities in their local communities. In Hull, however, information about community music activities was often scattered across websites and social media, or shared through word of mouth, making suitable opportunities difficult to identify. This project set out to build a clearer picture of music provision across the city.

The Mapping Music Project: Music Activities for Education, Social Care, Health and Wellbeing in Hull (MESH-2) combined publicly available information with an online survey of people who organise or attend local music activities. A total of 129 people, including 100 organisers and 29 attendees, participated in the survey. The public data and online survey responses were used to create a digital map containing 224 entries which show the location and key features of music activities in Hull. The survey responses were also used to document what type of music activities happen in Hull and gain insights into how they are promoted, funded, delivered and accessed.

The findings reveal a diverse community music landscape. Activities serve purposes ranging from enabling social connections, supporting health and wellbeing, to education, providing opportunities to make music, creating safe spaces for enjoyment and supporting the local creative economy. The project also identified areas where provision appeared limited or less visible, including parts of East Hull and provision for particular groups, and developed recommendations for improving access, visibility, networking and the sustainability of local music activities.

The project builds on the earlier MESH pilot study in the West Midlands and represents the first attempt to scale up that work in another region. Its findings offer practical insights for music activity organisers, practitioners and policymakers, while the digital map provides a resource for understanding and connecting Hull’s community music provision.

“Thank you very much to SEMPRE for enabling this project to happen.”

Readers can explore the findings, case studies and recommendations in the full MESH-2 Research Report.