About Us
In 2010, the referral of a young man aged 18 with a catastrophic brain injury began the story of Chiltern Music Therapy. As a newly qualified Music Therapist, he was one of the first people that Rosie, our Founder saw in her job at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, and the connection with him and his family ignited a spark and desire to ensure music therapy could be offered in a different way.
As therapists, we are taught to ‘meet the clients, wherever they may be’ in emotional understanding - but what could happen if we took this forward into a broader context? What if we could create a provision that could see clients at home, or in the community? What if we could provide not only one approach to music therapy, but many different types of music therapy alongside a community music provision which could grow and expand around the people it was created for?
In 2011, the grass roots of the organisation was founded in care, connection and a need to do things differently. With Rosie’s back room as an office, the first members of the team at Chiltern, met regularly in front of the fire in the living room. By opening the door to music therapy, sharing the changes we witnessed, reading together the evidence for why it worked, and learning alongside the people and communities we served, Chiltern continued to grow.
Today, we work across health, education and community settings, building partnerships, developing new services and inspiring more people to discover the transformative power of music therapy.
Our Promise, Passion and Values
How we work
At Chiltern Music Therapy, we believe that the way we work is just as important as the work we do.
Over the years we have been inspired by organisations that put people, relationships and purpose at the heart of decision-making. We've explored ideas from self-management, sociocracy, Teal organisations and deliberately developmental organisations, learning from each while developing an approach that feels authentic to Chiltern. Rather than following one model, we continue to evolve. We value shared leadership, distributed decision-making, openness, reflection and continuous learning, while recognising the importance of clear accountability and good governance.
The circles shown below represent the different communities that make up Chiltern. Each has a distinct role, but none exists in isolation. Together they create the conditions for us to listen, challenge, learn and grow. They are the seedbeds where ideas emerge, relationships develop and the future of Chiltern continues to evolve.
Being a social enterprise is also central to who we are. We exist to create social impact, not to maximise profit. Income generated through our services is reinvested into widening access to music therapy and community music, and developing new ideas that respond to unmet need across health, education and social care, while fundraising enables us to go further. Through our bursary fund and innovative pilot projects, we work alongside communities and partners to bring music therapy and community music to people and places where it would otherwise be unavailable. In doing so, we hope not only to provide services today, but to influence traditional health and education systems, inspire others and help create a more caring world where music takes centre stage.
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Meet our team
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