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Children’s Hospice South West is delighted to be the winning recipient of a Sounding Bowl for its music therapy as featured on BBC Spotlight

Back in January, BBC Spotlight featured a story whereby an appeal was being made to apply for a music Sounding Bowl hand-crafted by Devon based Tobias Kaye, and Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW) is delighted to be the winning recipient!

Sounding Bowls are extraordinary. Hand-crafted from local tree timbers, the bowls are specially designed to amplify sounds, resulting in rich acoustic responses that work exceptionally well in music therapy. The Sounding Bowl was presented to CHSW’s lead music therapist, Ceridwen Rees, at the charity’s Little Bridge House hospice on Wednesday 25 April, and Ceridwen said: 

To say I was excited to hear CHSW was the winning recipient of this amazing bowl is an understatement! The bowl is a wonderful combination of craftsmanship and healing music and will really enrich the music therapy that we can provide. We are so grateful to be given such an amazing gift, and our children will enjoy this for many years to come.

The difference between conventional instruments and Sounding Bowls is that the strings run inside the bowl. Every part of a Sounding Bowl is made by hand, and Tobias explained why CHSW was chosen to receive the bowl:

Of the 22 applications for this bowl the one from CHSW moved me particularly, possibly because I lost a child myself less than 2 decades ago. The work CHSW do is so valuable and I am really glad to be making this contribution to the quality of therapy there.

Music Therapy is a key part of the care provision at CHSW. Music opens up wonderful possibilities for engagement and interaction with children and offers a medium in which children, even those without verbal skills, can express themselves. After being introduced to the charity’s Devon hospice in 2013, it is now offered at each of the charity’s three hospices and is an integral part of CHSW’s care portfolio.

On the day of the presentation, children staying at the hospice were the first to experience the new sounds of the instrument, and the Sounding Bowl will now play a key role in music therapy sessions.

For more information about the care services offered to families at CHSW, see www.chsw.org.uk/our-care and for details about Sounding Bowls see www.SoundingBowls.com

Children staying at Little Bridge House children’s hospice were treated to a special music therapy session thanks to Devon craftsman, Tobias Kaye.