The Music Gym, something different comes to Hereford!
Release Date: 15/07/11 Spokesperson: Matthew Saunders
Multimedia & Images 
A BBC Video on the Original Music Gym
New Special Needs Facility Coming to Hereford
Related Links
Who:
- Aspire are a registered charity providing tailor-made support for individuals with learning disabilities in Herefordshire, dedicated to enabling those in their care to live their lives as independent as possible as part of their local community.
- Music Gym Ltd are a social enterprise committed to providing consultation and advice to organisations interested in setting up sensory environments which foster a sense of adventure and exploration, encouraging their users to become active participants rather than passive observers.
What:
- Aspire is unveiling it’s brand new Music Gym equipment, specifically designed to provide meaningful activities for children and adults with a wide range of disabilities throughout the Hereford area.
- The equipment provided by the Music Gym Ltd includes the Decodamaze (winner of the 2009 NHS Health and Social Care Award for Technological Innovation), an interactive bouncy castle and active camera technology that turns movement into music.
- All the equipment is designed to be to be easily transported and as flexible as possible to ensure new technology can be added as it appears.
Where:
- The sports hall, Point 4, Venns Lane, Hereford, HR1 1DT
- In time Aspire plan to investigate using the equipment as a mobile facility capable of being set up as and when needed throughout Herefordshire.
When:
- Aspire will be running the Music Gym Hereford at regular intervals throughout the summer
- The first session will be held Sunday 17 July
Quote:
Speaking at the end of their final training session earlier this year Tom Smurthwaite of the Music Gym Ltd said:
“At the end of our 5 days of training I left exhausted, yet inspired. I have no doubt that the Aspire Music Gym team will soon be making a huge difference to the lives of vulnerable children and adults of Hereford!”
Boiler Plate:
A Music Gym is more than a sensory room, using similar equipment – but with an emphasis on doing. Sound and images are triggered and controlled by movement, developing the relationship between the member and their supporter through fun and interaction. The combination of technology and physical activity allows users to express themselves however they choose and provides skills that can be transferred to solving problems at home, in communication and day to day life.
The Music Gym Ltd. doesn’t sell equipment, instead, they:
- Design interactive sensory spaces to fit anything from a single room to a sports hall.
- Offer training and consultation to individuals and organisations and helping them make the most of equipment they already have.
- Develop cost-effective ways of using new technology.