Our history

The Council for Music in Hospitals is launched.

Arts Council employee Sheila McCreery has a great idea – to share live music in hospitals following the closure of the Entertainments National Services Association (ENSA) in 1946. ENSA shared live music with wounded service people in military hospitals. In 1947, Sheila arranges 22 live music concerts. The Council for Music in Hospitals is established in 1948.

The Council for Music in Hospitals becomes a registered charity.

With Sheila as Secretary, the Council for Music in Hospitals goes from strength to strength, appointing Lord Harewood as President and expanding with hospital choir sessions. With more funding, the Council for Music in Hospitals is able to provide live music in a diverse range of hospitals. During the 1950s, around 300 concerts were shared each year.

Founding member Sir Steuart Wilson passes away.

As Vice President of the Council for Music in Hospitals and Music Director of the Arts Council and later the BBC, Steuart has been a great champion for the benefits of live music and the charity is greatly saddened by his death. Towards the end of the 1960s, the Council for Music in Hospitals comes into financial difficulty and concert numbers drop. A staff member at Central Hospital Warwick writes: “It would be preferable to have concerts more entertaining than cultural.”

Sylvia Lindsay becomes Secretary.

In 1972, after 25 years with the Council for Music in Hospitals, Sheila steps down and Sylvia Lindsay takes over as Secretary, working from her dining room to arrange live music. After consulting hospital staff and doctors, the charity’s ‘music policy’ is revised to include more informal music. This includes jazz and popular music so that musicians can connect with a wider range of people. Sylvia also begins to expand our live music programme across the UK.

The first live music takes place in Scotland.

They prove so popular that the Scottish committee is established the following year. Then, in 1984, Council for Music in Hospitals musicians go on an introductory tour in and around Belfast.

The Council for Music in Hospitals begins to share live music with children in 1986. By the end of the decade, the charity is sharing up to 2,500 concerts a year at around 600 different healthcare settings. These are for children and adults with a wide range of disabilities and health conditions. Watch: Council for Music in Hospitals Scotland archive footage.

The Council for Music in Hospitals celebrates 50 years of live music in healthcare.

The charity develops more significant partnerships, including in Jersey and Guernsey with tours of hospitals and care homes. Live music takes place in intensive care units and the ‘Friends’ scheme for committed supporters is launched, providing great new fundraising opportunities.

Sylvia becomes President Emerita and her assistant Pam Smith takes over. Pam develops the Council for Music in Hospitals’ work with young people and those living with dementia. We start to share live music in Wales, led by staff member Bill Hyde who sets up our office there from his home in South Wales.

Music in Hospitals opens an office in Manchester.

New Chief Executive Diana Greenman (who worked on the concerts team since 1986 and will lead the organisation through to 2012), brings the charity into its 60th year. Music in Hospitals celebrates in style with a Royal Gala Dinner in the presence of new Patron HRH the Duchess of Gloucester and a party for staff, musicians, volunteers and committee members.

70 years of joy through live music.

Music in Hospitals & Care welcomes new UK-wide Chief Executive Barbara Osborne. The charity continues to go from strength to strength, sharing over 4,500 live music experiences annually thanks to amazing supporters, volunteers and a committed President, Vice Presidents and Patrons. The charity celebrates its 70th birthday with lots of campaigns and events, including one with 70 choirs who help fundraise for the charity.

Improving people’s wellbeing with #MusicEveryDay.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Music in Hospitals & Care moves online to share the healing power of live music with the people we support when meeting face to face isn’t possible. Our online programme #MusicEveryDay helps live music become a part of people’s wellbeing routine. Personal and interactive, our professional musicians continue to offer live music which stays true to what makes us special. We reach 47,660 people through online music over 18 months.

Celebrating 75 years

In 2023 Music in Hospitals & Care celebrated its 75th anniversary and the diverse community that is at the heart of the charity. Special events throughout the live music programme recognised both long standing and newer partnerships to commemorate where the charity has been and look ahead to where it is going next.

The year’s activities all built towards 13 November, the date of the first meeting in 1947 that led to the creation of the charity the following year. Find out more about what we got up to.