Brondesbury Chapter

Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in schools in Hackney, Islington, Reading and Slough will be taking part in an innovative multi-year creative music-making project, thanks to a generous £57,000 grant from London Freemasons to HMDT Music’s Music Treehouse project.

Currently working with more than 60 children and young people between the ages of two and 25 who experience a wide spectrum of needs ranging from mild to severe, profound and complex, including developmental disorders, mobility issues and autism, the Music Treehouse team of highly experienced and skilled specialist practitioners and musicians lead a range of group sessions as well as one-to-one music therapy at HMDT Music’s Saturday Programme  in Hackney. Following pilot projects, Music Treehouse is now expanding to offer three projects annually in SEND schools in Islington, Reading and Slough.

In schools, music making sessions will link into curricular themes and topics to develop communication, interaction, mobility, confidence and creative, musical, and social skills. Music is scientifically proven to strengthen auditory, visual/ spatial and more cortices of the brain and be a key aid to improving these skills. To ensure continuity, CPD training will be delivered to teachers at the participating schools so that they feel confident and empowered to implement the Music Treehouse methodology in delivering further aspects of their curriculum.

Recent Department of Education figures show a national increase of 5.6 per cent of SEND children since 2024, with a 5.9 per cent increase in East London boroughs alone. Despite this, there are minimal SEND opportunities like Music Treehouse available and with increasingly reduced out-of-school music provision available for local SEND children, and many SEND schools offering limited music with no specialist teachers, Music Treehouse alleviates isolation and marginalisation for its participants, over 90 per cent of whom face challenging economic circumstances and over 50 per cent of whom are from ethnic minorities.

The grant from London Freemasons comes through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which is funded by Freemasons, their families and friends, from across England and Wales.

Tertia Sefton-Green, CEO and Creative Director of HMDT Music said:

“We’re incredibly grateful to London Freemasons for their generous grant which allows us to continue and expand Music Treehouse into schools. It’s clear from the number of requests and referrals we regularly receive that Music Treehouse is a much-valued and much-needed project to enrich and support the lives of young children with a range of special educational needs and disabilities, enabling them to develop their creative, social and communication skills through the power of music.”

Will Clayton from London Freemasons, said:

“I’m very pleased we’ve been able to support the Music Treehouse project. It’s clear from the evidence that music making can have a profound positive effect on children with a wide variety of special needs. This is the only project in the area to provide this wonderful opportunity.”