A charity has warned that people with learning disabilities may find it difficult to socialise again as lockdown restrictions ease.

The Music Man Project is the UK’s first full-time music education service for people with learning disabilities and ran classes in Medway and Maidstone before lockdown.

Sarah Mann is the regional director of Music Man Project in Kent

However, due to coronavirus restrictions, face-to-face classes have since been cancelled with tuition moved onto Zoom.

Regional Director of Music Man Project in Kent Sarah Mann said the lockdown has left many of the people using the service "confused and anxious”.

She said: “Lockdown has been a tricky time for everybody, but more so for people with learning difficulties. Overnight, our performers found themselves completely isolated and cut off from family and friends and the usual things they’d do every week. A lot of them faced the pandemic on their own.

“A lot of them have struggled to understand what terms like pandemic and social-distancing actually mean. It’s left a lot of them quite confused and anxious”.

After the first national lockdown, the MMP was able to offer some smaller face to face classes, but Sarah said this was a difficulty in itself: “We had to reduce the session sizes. It was tricky, because they didn’t see all of the people they used to see. We also didn’t get the same funds coming in, because we had to reduce the class sizes.”

The project has been fortunate enough to receive donations and additional funding to see them through the past year. The group received £4,500 from the Kent Community Foundation in January 2021 to help towards future theatre hire and rehearsal space.

Sarah said: “We have had incredible support from Kent Community Foundation throughout lockdown and, to be honest, I don’t think we could have survived without them.

"The Covid grants have meant that we could minimise the impact and help cover the cost of continuing to deliver sessions, support and lesson resources via online platforms”.

But, Sarah’s also concerned that it may take some time for their performers to return to normal, as current restrictions are eased in the county.

“You almost become institutionalised when you’ve not been able to go out and see people. You’re told to keep a distance and you mustn’t touch, so I think it will be quite difficult.

"It will be a slow process to build the confidence to meet people face to face.”

You can see more about the Music Man Project here.

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