Ranaich House helps residents to make their dreams come true

A resident at Ranaich House, is shooting for the stars after the specialist residential home helped him to make a music and dance video. The Dunblane residential home for adults with learning disabilities and complex needs has adopted a programme called Music 2 Empower, to give residents the chance to use a professional recording studio. Residents get the chance to work with a production crew and use high spec equipment to record music and perform.

The opportunity was too good to miss for Steven, a resident at Ranaich House who has always dreamed of a career in television.

After using his time in the studio to perform the Hello Song, from CBeebies’ Something Special, Steven said: “Through the short video clip, I want everyone to know that people with Down Syndrome and any other disabilities are still out there and we are capable of doing the same things as other people can.”

Steven said it had been a long-held dream to be on TV. He said: “I did plays during my school days and I like theatres and acting. I feel like I’m in my element, that I can be whatever I want to be. I want to go on TV, even as an extra. If it’s a role with a speaking part, that would be marvellous. I want to be there with great names such as Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood.”

Cygnet Health Care has rolled out the ‘Music 2 Empower’ initiative across its services around the UK to support music therapy related projects and allow service users to showcase their abilities and inspire others.

Kirsty Dickson, Activity Co-ordinator at Ranaich House said residents had flourished through Music 2 Empower, which was introduced by Cygnet Health Care, the nationwide specialist services provider, in 2019. “We have a monthly house meeting with all our residents and staff and Steven suggested doing a video about Mr. Tumble so that we can showcase Makaton, a language programme that uses symbols, signs and speech to help people communicate. We have been practicing it for a couple of months now.”

“I knew that Steven always wanted to be on TV, so I contacted a relevant team at Cygnet Health Care, and we took it from there.”

“When I showed the video to Steven, he was really amazed by it and it is a great achievement for him. It came from his suggestion; we listened, and we acted on it. I see that as part of my job – to do whatever we can to help our residents achieve their dreams.”

Reflecting on the transformative power of music, Kirsty said: “The session built Steven’s confidence and self-esteem. He is hardly in his bedroom now and he is always in the social area.”

She added: “Music is never going to change, and the consistency is quite important for our residents. People may come in and out of their lives, but you can play the same song over and over again.”

“We have a lot of residents who are very music-oriented. Music can often take them to a place of tranquillity and memory. It can also promote improvements in their social relations and their feeling of connectedness, as well as building confidence and self-esteem.”

You can watch the interview with Steven and his performance of the Hello Song on the video below.

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