The song, titled ‘Notes of Thanks’ has just been released and was created for The Yellow Book project. You can listen to the song here.
Cygnet has previously worked with Rethink Your Mind to produce two editions of The Cygnet Yellow Book, a well-being resource containing service user artwork and creative contributions.
This latest collaboration saw David Jackson, Expert by Experience and part of the Music 2 Empower initiative visit Deadline Studios to lend his voice to the single.
On the day, David and Raf arrived at the studio and were given a tour, before David went into the booth and recorded his lines. They both produced some of the clapping that can be heard throughout the song and feature in the music video.
David Jackson said; “I’m very thankful for this experience. I came in and had a lot of fun recording the song. I’ve only been an Expert by Experience for a very short time so this has been a fantastic opportunity to get my voice heard. The song and experience recording was so positive and proved how music can help your mental health.”
Music 2 Empower is an initiative by Cygnet, launched in October 2019 that aims to bring the positive effects of music therapy across our services.
Raf Hamaizia, Cygnet’s Group Expert by Experience Lead said: “I’m really pleased to have been able to support this project. This was a great opportunity to bring together the work we’ve been doing with Music 2 Empower and the Yellow Book. I’ve seen first-hand how music can help empower people to address problems rooted in their past and talk about their feelings and experiences.”
“The Music 2 Empower project started after I first met David, who wanted to create a music video on the ward. After some debate with the doctors, we were able to create a really good music video, got David a recording studio in his room and the project was born. Since then we’ve been able to support a number of service users to creating songs and music videos.”