Mental health and wellbeing column: take everyone with you

'Engagement in the arts changes lives. The positive impact of the arts on health, social mobility and wellbeing are now irrefutable.’ Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber

It is for this precise reason that the Music in Secondary Schools Trust (MiSST) exists. MiSST is passionate about helping the young people of today – and particularly those in disadvantaged areas and schools – to engage meaningfully with the arts and form an unbreakable bond with classical music that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

At MiSST we start this journey by ensuring that every Key Stage 3 student in our 26 partner schools receives a free classical instrument. MiSST students walk around town with violins on their backs and flutes on their shoulders like it's their PE kit: everyone is the same; no one is teased for choosing to play the cello (or being able to afford it!). Our students are aware of the financial and cultural value of what they are being given – they cherish what's in the case and embrace the challenges and responsibilities it brings.