I worked as a secondary school music teacher until I had my son. When he was 2 he had a stroke which left him with a permanent right sided weakness. Connecting with other families in a similar position ultimately led me to working for the OHMI Trust, a UK based charity that seeks to enable those with a physical disability to participate in music-making, with the potential for virtuosity. The charity started to find instruments/equipment through an international competition in 2013.

Over the last 6 years we have been exploring what happens when successful competition winners are used in schools in a variety of settings and also trying to expand the range of instruments/equipment available, in terms of variety, cost and manufacturing technique. This project is a great way of taking an existing piece of equipment and moving it on to the next stage thus making it possible for far more people to participate in music-making alongside their peers.