Dovetail Orchestra: Can a community music group improve mental health for asylum seekers and refugees in Bristol?

The Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports 108 million people were forcibly displaced by the end of 2022. As of November 2022, the UK was home to:

231,597 refugees
127,421 people waiting for their asylum application to be processed
5,483 stateless people

Refugees and asylum seekers struggle with mental health and wellbeing issues. This can be the result of the trauma they experience before leaving their home country, as well as difficult experiences during their migration journey or the living conditions in their destination country.

Taking part in social events and local groups can improve mental health and wellbeing in refugees and asylum seekers. Community-based activities such as music programmes can have a positive impact on mental health and can provide a sense of cultural acceptance and belonging.

This research focuses on the Dovetail Orchestra, a community-based music group for adult refugee and asylum seekers in Bristol. It was launched in September 2022 and is made up of refugees, asylum seekers and local musicians with support from local volunteers. The orchestra meets every week to co-create music based on traditional songs from members’ countries of origin. Following rehearsals, the group gather in a community centre to socialise.

What we did

During this project we explored how members understood and experienced the orchestra. We looked at what motivated them to take part in the orchestra and what they expected from it. We also explored what allowed them to take part and what stood in their way.

We carried out interviews and group discussions with:

Members with asylum seeking or refugee status
Local musician members
Community volunteers supporting the orchestra

We tried to make it easy to participate by offering different ways of taking part. We also made sure that people who spoke other languages were supported to contribute.

In total, we ran two focus groups with 18 and interviewed 15 orchestra members. Of these 33 people, 22 were refugees.

What we found and what this means

Participants were motivated by a love of music and culture. They expressed a desire to play music and expand their music knowledge and abilities. Being part of a diverse group made up of members from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds was also important.

Locally-based musicians also expressed a desire to show solidarity with the refugee community.

Participants described Dovetail as a diverse and dynamic community of like-minded people. Diversity was considered an asset, even though it could present challenges for the music-making process.

Refugee members also valued the learning opportunities presented through the orchestra and having access to instruments.

Being involved boosted self-confidence and a sense of achievement.

All participants described the positive impact being part of Dovetail had on their mental health.

Members helped each other in other ways, for example by writing letters of support for asylum applications.

The influence of being part of the Dovetail community went far beyond the orchestra itself. It gave a sense of empowerment and wellbeing in other aspects of members’ lives.

Refugee participants were reimbursed for their travel expenses to rehearsals and performances. Even so, paying these expenses was a barrier to those going through the asylum seeking process.

What next?

Our research sheds light on how community music programmes can:

Support intercultural acceptance
Improve mental health and sense of wellbeing
Promote empowerment and sense of achievement among orchestra and local community members

It’s important to capture the voices of the people whose lives are impacted by programmes such as the Dovetail Orchestra. We hope our findings will help to make social participation programmes better in future.