At any care home, the housekeeping staff are the eyes and ears of the building. They meet everybody who lives, works and visits there and they have intimate and personal conversations with these people every single day. They are essential to keeping the building running, often socially as well as practically. At Bridgeside Lodge, it is no different, and we spoke to several housekeeping staff to get an insider account of what it is like to work at a care home where music is such a constant and celebrated presence. 

‘Hearing the music every day, even as you go about your work, as you’re
getting in and out of the lift, you find yourself humming along.
Even if you don’t realise it, hearing the music puts a smile on your face’.

These were the opening words of Anna, a well-loved member of housekeeping staff to whom we spoke recently. Typical to form on an average Thursday in January, the conversation took place in the laundry room, as Anna was too busy to take any additional breaks. She chatted away fondly about her memories of The Spitz over the years, whilst continuing to fold towels and above the noise of the industrial washer-drier. 

“The music puts a smile on your face”

Anna has been at Bridgeside for several years, and told me that she was absent for a number of months for medical reasons, but noticed a huge shift in atmosphere upon returning. The difference was that The Spitz had begun their regular music sessions at the care home:

“I remember thinking ‘well this is a bit different’, but good different – something we hadn’t
seen before. And then they just kept coming back, and there was more and more music”

Anna describes The Spitz team as ‘part of the family!’. From our conversation, it became apparent that she felt that it was the people involved that made The Spitz so special, not just the music itself. She described, ‘I think what’s different about The Spitz is that they really listen. Jane, Thom, all of the musicians – they take their time with everyone. They’re never in a rush, and they really seem to care’.

Housekeeping staff have been privy to the profound impact that the presence of the music has had on particular residents. Anna spoke to us about Joseph, a popular long-time resident who has been writing, performing and even recording his own songs with Spitz musicians for years. ‘Before, Joe would never come out of his room’, she explained. ‘But the music has given him a sense of purpose. He is proud of the songs he writes, and he wants to share them with you. He’s even started to go to a choir now… it’s completely changed his life’.

“…it’s completely changed his life“

Speaking about another resident, John, Anna recalled how he used to be ‘scared of his own shadow’, and that his engagement with music has given him so much confidence, that now he ‘always has his guitar with him, it’s like a third arm’. 

Housekeeper Noel has been working at Bridgeside since 2021. He spoke to us about his personal experience of music and how important he feels it is for people’s wellbeing. He grew up in the mountains in The Phillippines, and described the beauty of ‘the music of the birds’. Laughing about how he has brought this to his current role at Bridgeside, Noel joked ‘

I love music, but music doesn’t love me! I want to sing but I can’t. But I always stop and listen
when The Spitz musicians are playing for somebody in their room. I wait at the door
for a few moments, and then even when I walk away, the song follows me down the corridor’. 

These conversations have allowed us to reflect on all that we have built at Bridgeside Lodge over the years, and all of the people that the music has supported and brought joy, connection and emotional release to. And, above all, the relationships that the music-making has fostered, many of them significant and long-lasting. To end on a final, poignant quote from Anna:

‘It’s helped to build relationships, because music is something that everyone can
have in common. The residents, the staff, the musicians, it’s something that
brings people together. And people can feel heard, and really listened to.’

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Martha Nicholls