The Lullaby Project Essex – 2025-26
Thanks to grant funding from Essex County Council’s Public Health Accelerator Bid (PHAB), we were delighted to be able to bring the Lullaby Project to Essex in 2025. In partnership with Live Music Now and B3 CIC, we:
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delivered 8 projects across Basildon and Tendring districts
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created 57 lullabies
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helped 57 families
How the Project Worked
Each Lullaby Project group was run by dedicated musicians from Live Music Now, alongside a Parents 1st peer supporter. Projects ran for 6 weeks as a mix of in-person groups and one-to-one online sessions.
At the first session of each group, the musicians spent time getting to know the parents and performing group singing exercises to put parents at ease with the songwriting process. Parents were then asked to start writing lyrics for their babies – the musicians would work with them to pull out key phrases and words to form lyrics or invite them to write a letter to their babies expressing personal hopes and dreams for them.
Using the parents’ ideas, the musicians then developed melodies and harmonies to fit the lyrics and musical styles that the parents had requested. Once parents were happy with their song, the musicians would arrange the piece, record it and share it with the parents to keep as their own unique lullabies for their babies.
Each Lullaby Project ended with an in-person event where all the parents involved were given the opportunity to sing their lullabies accompanied by the musician. Parents were able to listen to and celebrate everyone's lullabies together.
Key Impacts
Independent evaluation led by WSA Community has shown that the project had a significant impact on participants’ wellbeing.
- 85% mothers who took part in the project showed positive change by the end of their Lullaby sessions. The largest improvements were for feeling emotionally well, feeling physically well, and improved social networks.
- The impact on parents’ mental health and their improved wellbeing was very noticeable. Some parents highlighted their struggles just leaving the house to attend the Lullaby sessions, but explained that they had no regrets having done so, because they felt much better after attending. Meeting other parents who also struggled with mental health reassured some parents that their thoughts and feelings were entirely valid, which helped to reduce negative stigma around mental ill-health.
- Parents felt an immense level of achievement in having created a lullaby for their child, which also had a positive impact on their overall wellbeing. Those participants who felt they were not musical or had no singing ability had a particularly strong sense of accomplishment and pride that they had created something for their child that would be everlasting.
- As part of overall improvements to their wellbeing, some parents began activities that led to healthier lifestyle behaviours. They noted how they had met people they would otherwise not have had the opportunity to meet: in some cases, this led to new friendships developing, and parents arranging to meet outside the sessions.
- Making new friends and increasing the number of connections they had was a strong outcome for parents during the Lullaby sessions.
Further reading:
Lullaby Essex: Music, Wellbeing and Connection for New Families