Investigating the Impact of Volunteering with Melody Music Birmingham (MMB) on the Professional Development and Career Pathways of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Students

This article evaluates the impact of volunteering with a music education project for children and adults with learning disabilities on the professional development and career trajectory of music students at a conservatoire in the United Kingdom (UK). To celebrate ten years of the project’s success, a formal evaluation was developed. Following ethical approval, a mixed-methods online questionnaire captured the impact of volunteering with Melody Music Birmingham (MMB) on student volunteers from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. The results were overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating that this had been a powerful aspect of the students’ learning and influenced their career choices, perceptions and attitudes.