The United Kingdom has seen an increasing number of children entering the looked after care system (foster care, adoptive care or residential care). Due to this increasing number, there have been several music projects set up in the United Kingdom, which aim to provide opportunities for musical engagement for looked after children. This article aims to examine the impact that a music project has on children in foster care and their carers. Using a case study strategy to examine the Loud and Clear project based at Sage Gateshead, this research took on a multi-methodological approach. Focus groups and interviews were constructed to collect the narratives of participants’ experiences of attending the project and to identify the impacts the project may be having. Additionally, participatory observations were also undertaken to see first-hand the approaches that the facilitators were using within sessions to meet the needs of the participants. Findings indicated that attending a music project helped facilitate a sense of structure for foster children while also providing unique opportunities for carers to socialize with one another – these being two key areas that are often lacking in participants’ lives, that can be seen to be overcome through active participation within a music project.

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Living within state care can have detrimental effects on children’s development, as substantial research has proposed. Recognising how music-making may support children’s social, emotional and personal development, many cultural organisations have begun developing music projects that work specifically with care-experienced children. Although evaluation has detailed the various benefits these projects may have, there has been little research into the approaches employed by the facilitators who deliver these projects. With this in mind, this article examines a community music project that focused on foster family music-making. It explores the facilitators’ social pedagogical approach to music-making and the benefits participants report they have gained from the project, both to themselves and the children in their care.