Firstly a big thank you for signing up to receive our newsletter. We are delighted to share all of the exciting goings on here at The Swan Song Project with you. We hope that your year has got off to a good start, despite the challenges the world is facing at present.
2020 was a difficult year for many organisations; Swan Song included. We are very pleased that we managed not only to survive but to expand, thanks to the kindness of our supporters. Read on to find out more.
Swan Song Virtual Service Now Nationwide
During lockdown we launched the virtual version of our service;
supporting terminally ill and bereaved people to write and record an original song. Making the service virtual has allowed us to work with people all across the country and we are excited to continue expanding our reach. We are continuing to partner with new hospices, end of life and bereavement support organisations nationwide to ensure that as many people as possible are aware of and can access our service.
If you, or anyone you know, are interested in writing a song with us we would love to hear from you. Click the button below to find out more.
Vic's Song In The Key Of Life Helps Family Grieve
"Vic Simborowski didn’t get to meet his new grandson who was born just three weeks before Vic died at the age of 70. But thanks to The Swan Song Project – a National Lottery-funded organisation that helps people nearing the end of their life write and record a song – Vic’s daughter Ellie knows that one day she will be able to introduce her son to his grandfather."
This extract is from a lovely piece the National Lottery wrote about The Swan Song Project just before Christmas telling the story of Vic's beautiful song 'Shades of Love.' Click here to read the full article.
A big thank you to everyone who has kindly fundraised for Swan Song recently. With so many people suffering bereavement, due to COVID-19 or otherwise, we have seen an increase in demand for our virtual songwriting service. Your donations, large and small, are therefore vital in helping us to continue our work.
We hope that we can count on your support in 2021. The Support Us section of our website gives information about some of the ways you can get involved. Please take a look and share with anyone who may be interested: friends, family or colleagues.
Local Author and Funeral Director Donates Book Proceeds
Founder of Full Circle Funerals, author and Swan Song supporter Sarah Jones has very generously pledged the proceeds of her book 'Funerals Your Way' to The Swan Song Project. We are so grateful for Sarah's support.
Swan Song Highly Commended in Marsh Commercial Awards
We were thrilled to be recognised in Marsh Commercial's For The People Awards. Our entry was Highly Commended which resulted in a £1,000 donation! Thank you to everyone who kindly voted and to Marsh Commercial for selecting Swan Song out of some amazing charities.
Charlotte Newell wrote and recorded her poignant song 'Dear Eddie Newell' with us just before Christmas. She said that having the song sang to her felt like her much missed dad Eddie "was really there, giving me a big hug and I just cannot describe the feeling." Charlotte added, "I sing the song with my family, I sing it to my dad and the lyrics mean everything to me."
Swan Song Podcast Back in 2021 With Brooks Williams
In 2020 we started The Swan Song Project Podcast. In each episode Ben asks his songwriter guest to:
A) Share one of their songs and talk about how they wrote it
B) Share a songwriting tip
C) Share a song that is meaningful in some way relating to bereavement
The podcast has been a pleasure to do and at the end of 2020 we had over 20,000 listeners in total!
