Aims & Objectives

Communication is one of the most basic needs of all humans. There are many children who have communication difficulties: some have no means to communicate at all. Music can provide a powerful and profound way in which they can express themselves and connect with the world around them.

Jessie's Fund was established as a registered charity in April 1995 with the aim of helping seriously ill and disabled children in all areas of the UK through the therapeutic use of music. Originally our chief focus was to establish and expand the availability and scope of therapeutic music in children's hospices. In addition, we now work in many other settings, with a significant proportion of our work taking place in schools for children with special needs.

Our objectives are:

• To equip every children's hospice in the UK with the appropriate instruments for creative and therapeutic music.
• To establish, by a pattern of three-year funding programmes, music therapy posts at each children's hospice in the UK.
• To provide training courses to enable general care staff in children's hospices to use music as a tool of communication and expression.
• To help children in hospitals, schools and centres for children with special needs to benefit from creative music or music therapy when they would otherwise be unable to do so.
• To actively encourage the development of creative music work in schools for children with special needs.
• To advise organisations who approach us for information about the benefits of using music for children who are ill and/or of varied abilities.