Business Name: Playing for Cake
Support received: New Anglia Growth Programme
Location: Sheringham, Norfolk
Website: http://playingforcake.uk/
Playing for Cake, a Community Interest Company (CIC) based in Sheringham, Norfolk, delivers participative, interactive music and singing workshops to groups of people to improve their health and wellbeing.
The brainchild of Tina Blaber-Wegg and her Co-Director, George Crawley, Playing for Cake works closely with people who are living with a range of physical or mental health conditions and their carers to improve their health and wellbeing. This includes people living with dementia, people with disabilities and those with respiratory conditions. Tina says that anyone experiencing physical or emotional difficulties, including as a result of stress, can benefit from taking part in musical activities in a fun and relaxed way.
We spoke to Tina about her passion for Playing for Cake and the impact it is having on local people.
What motivated you to establish Playing for Cake?
We feel this is a massively under-funded and under-resourced sector. There is so much potential for different people to benefit from taking part in participatory music sessions.
Having used music as a way of supporting my own recovery and return to work following a bout of ill-health, I went on to earn a Performing Musician award in 2007 through Access to Music. I established a community ‘Jam Club’ in Sheringham in 2011, which still runs to this day, and met a variety of like-minded people who found confidence and friendship in performing music.
Sadly, one of the band members was diagnosed with early-onset dementia. We have supported this musician to enable him to keep playing. It provides much pleasure to him, and provides his wife with some respite. It is this experience that has led to us, alongside another community musician, Jane Wells, to set up Playing for Cake as a CIC, with the aim of bringing singing or music workshops to other groups of people to benefit their health and wellbeing.
