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MID partners, trustees and staff |
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Music In Detention (MID) works through music to give voice MID was formed by a group of organisations and individuals inspired by a pilot programme in 2005 that took participatory music activities into four of the UK's Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs). |
Image of oil on canvas painting by |
Testimonies "People here are going through mental torture, you know what I mean, physical problems, spiritual problems. It is only these kinds of programmes that can get people’s minds down... Talking about self-harm and stuff, if you attend workshops like this, you rarely think about things like that. It gives you a freedom that you can still be happy. Ah, so I can still be happy for one minute, it means I can be happy for two minutes. Before you know what is happening, you change your thinking. It can go a long way to help"
Detainee participant, IRC Dover “The Education staff and detainees going to pick each other to sing or dance with each other, I don’t think that’s what you see everyday. With music you can break down the institution, the hierarchy and bureaucracy, and bring in society” Musician facilitator, IRC Dungavel House “I think it lifts their self-esteem and makes them more confident. They believe in themselves again. They become more positive and concentrated on changing their situation rather than putting themselves down the whole time.” Key skills tutor, IRC Colnbrook
Nimrod Community Centre Public Event, Dec 2008,
Nimrod Community Centre Public Event, Dec 2008,
Banner, Nimrod Community Centre Public Event, Dec 2008, Copyright Jason Knight
Banner, Nimrod Community Centre Public Event, Dec 2008, Copyright Jason Knight
Banner, Nimrod Community Centre Public Event, Dec 2008, Copyright Jason Knight
Nimrod Community Centre Public Event, Dec 2008,
Councillor Derek Kimber, Nimrod Community Centre Public Event, Dec 2008, Copyright Jason Knight | |||||
This pilot found that the life-affirming experience of group music-making crossed cultural and language barriers and had a massive impact in relieving the stress suffered by detainees. Since mid-2005 MID has facilitated delivery of music workshops inside all 10 of the UK's IRCs. News From Wednesday 10th June, we will be based at: Kings Place Music Base Our new office telephone numbers are: Email: info@musicindetention.org.uk Our work We aim to provide psychological support through the experience of detention and make a tangible difference to how detainees both see themselves and are seen, by detention staff and people outside the closed institution. Music-making with detainees MID sees music as a humanising force, an expressive medium and a communication tool which can make a tangible difference to the welfare of immigration detainees undergoing the intensely difficult experience of administrative detention in Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs). We are currently delivering programmes of monthly music-making workshops in 5 IRCs:Dover, Haslar, Yarl’s Wood, Campsfield House and Colnbrook. We are also running one-off projects at Harmondsworth, Lindholme, Dungavel and Oakington. Evaluations of these workshops show that they relieve detainees’ stress and depression, enable self-expression through creativity, validate the individual and his cultural identity, help the development of social networks between detainees, and help to improve relationships/ interaction between staff and detainees. Community Exchange programme MID uses music-making as a way of bringing about a human connection between detainees in Immigration Removal Centres and residents outside them. Detainees involved in these exchanges gain a sense of connection to people in the wider community outside the IRC, and psychological support from that contact and the creative exchange this brings. Community participants gain in skills and confidence from working and recording with professional musicians, and encounter a different culture. They also learn about what brings detainees to the UK and their experience of detention, and are able to empathise with a migrant or asylum seeker’s experience. This work started in 2007-08 with four Community Exchange projects; two of which linked detainees in Haslar IRC with children in Leesland Junior School and young people in Rowner Youth Club, respectively; these workshops were organised around the theme of migration (and motivations for migration). The other two linked detainees in Dover IRC with children in St Mary’s CE Primary School; the themes for these workshops were shared rights, identity and leaving home. The projects were delivered by our music partners Traditional Arts Projects (TAPS) and Music for Change who facilitated separate workshops in the IRCs and the schools over a period of several days, where both groups worked on writing and performing their songs which were recorded and then edited into one track.
To listen to these compositions and other MID recordings, please visit: MID has since worked at Nimrod Community Centre in Gosport linking detainees at Haslar IRC, as well as at Age Concern in Dover and detainees at Dover. Additionally, we have recently begun our first exchange projects between Yarl’s Wood IRC and members of two community groups linked to All Saint’s Church in Bedford. The two projects will link Fusion music group with children held in Yarl’s Wood, and a women’s singing group to women detainees in the IRC. We are also planning an exchange between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and a community partner in Oxford, as well as two further exchanges in Gosport and Dover, bringing the number of Community Exchange projects in 2008-09 to seven. MID’s second public event, presented by Drum Runners In December 2008 MID held a very successful event in Nimrod Community Centre as a culmination of the recent Community Exchange Project between members of the community and Haslar IRC. We are very grateful to everyone at Nimrod Community Centre for all their time and support in making this happen. Please see photos on this page. Working with detention staff MID has started to work directly with staff in Immigration Removal Centres to foster good relationships and interaction and improve the quality of life for detainees in these difficult, closed institutions. Detention staff involved in our cultural awareness training said that both the information it gave, and the cultural encounter it created, helped them to understand detainees and interact more positively with them. We are working closely with managers in three IRCs to develop this work, the aim being a systemic impact on relationships and interaction between detainees and staff in the closed institution. |
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Music In Detention Company number - 5943893; MID is registered in England and Wales; Registered Office - 6-8 Amwell Street, London EC1R 1UQ; Charity no.1119049 On 10th June we are moving to Kings Place Music Base, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG. This will also be our registered office address. Last updated on: 01.06.09 This site is optimised for Internet Explorer browser. Website designed and built by Maria Patterson. |
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