Throughout 2022 we will be undertaking research into barriers to entry into our choirs faced by women in the military community. We know many of our current members struggled to get over the threshold into their first rehearsal, and we also know that since joining they’ve never looked back!

Funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust’s Tackling Loneliness & Isolation grant, the research will be carried out by academics from both the Veterans & Families Institute for Military Social Research, and the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research, both based at Anglia Ruskin University.

Professor Helen Odell-Miller OBE, Director of the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research at ARU, said: “We are honoured to be part of this essential collaboration furthering the understanding of how music contributes to the well- being and quality of life of those who support the military workforce. At CIMTR we are thrilled about the mutual collaboration and enrichment which will happen through working with Military Wives Choirs and ARU's Veterans and Families Institute for Military Social Research.”

Matt Fossey, Director of the Veterans and Families Institute for Military Social Research at ARU, said: “This is an important collaboration that will gives us meaningful insights into the positive contributions that music makes to the families of Military personnel. This research will also help with the understanding of any barriers that exist to participating in these groups. This is key to making the Military Wives Choirs as accessible as possible.”

Researchers will work closely with current choir members through questionnaires, focus groups and interviews to discover their hesitancies around joining a choir. The year-long research project will culminate in a recruitment drive focused at breaking down the barriers uncovered in the course of the research. Academics from the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research at ARU will also work to produce a monitoring tool to enable us to evaluate the impact choir has for its members.

For more information, please see the press release.