We are a large team of Monkey Music families from all over the UK, who will sing and play a song on 20 days throughout August to raise awareness of the importance of singing and playing music in our daily lives for our well-being and mental health. We want to raise awareness about the vital work Nordoff-Robbins music therapists to enrich the lives of those with life-limiting illnesses and complex needs.

Just after his 1st birthday, Daniel caught a bog standard virus from nursery. About 10 days later, he started being very lethargic (which is completely out of character) and over the course of the next 24 hours, he progressively lost the use of the entire left side of his body. After a frightening couple of days in hospital, he was finally diagnosed with ADEM: a post-viral condition where the immune system gets confused and fights brains cells. Fortunately, in Daniel’s case it was completely curable and there was no permanent damage. 

However, he did need physio and occupational therapies to regain the use of his left leg, arm and hand. Throughout his illness, I carried on doing Monkey Music songs and activities with him to keep him using his left side, and as soon as he was well enough we went back to classes. We were lucky and Daniel made an excellent recovery; 18 months later you would never know that he’d been so ill.

Although Monkey Music wasn’t an official form of music therapy, Daniel’s physio said a number of times that she’d never seen a child make such a quick and full recovery. Given what we know about the benefits of music in brain development and recovery, I am convinced that Monkey Music played an important role in Daniel’s recovery.

This is why we are taking part in the #singandplaychallenge to raise funds so that Nordoff Robbins can continue their vital work and help the families who need them.