Now Hear This Music C.I.C.

About

Now Hear This Music C.I.C. designs and delivers inclusive music provision that works — because it is built from lived experience, rigorous practice, and real-world delivery, not retrofitted adaptations.

We exist because genuinely inclusive music-making is rare — and most provision fails not through lack of goodwill, but through design.

We create practical, high-quality music experiences that are accessible from the outset, designed by a disabled professional musician and shaped through funded research, lived experience, and real-world delivery.

Our work enables people of all ages and abilities to participate meaningfully in music, without pressure, deficit framing, or the need to “fit” existing models.

What we do

We design and deliver inclusive, practical music provision across North Somerset and the surrounding region.

Our work includes:

  • community music groups for children, young people, adults, and older people

  • inclusive provision for disabled and neurodivergent participants

  • creative health and wellbeing programmes

  • bespoke projects developed with partners, communities, and local authorities

All our work is based on real music-making: shared listening, ensemble playing, exploration of instruments, and collaborative creativity.

What makes us different

Now Hear This Music is not an adapted version of existing provision. Our work is designed inclusively from the ground up.

Our approach is distinctive because it is:

  • Designed through lived experience — led by a disabled professional musician with direct understanding of exclusion, access, and participation

  • Research-informed and tested — developed through funded research and ongoing evaluation

  • Practically rigorous — musically serious, without being elitist or performance-driven

  • Ethically grounded — avoiding tokenism, deficit language, or “special” provision models

  • Embedded in place — shaped by the communities we work with, not imposed upon them

Who we work with

Our approach has been developed and tested across a wide range of communities, including:

School Nurture Hubs

Refugees, Looked After Children &
Vulnerable families

Children with happy face emojis on their faces in a music classroom, sitting in a circle, holding musical instruments, with a teacher playing guitar surrounded by musical equipment and colorful decorations on the walls.
Children and adults gathered in a community center for a musical activity, with a woman leading, some kids playing instruments, and others sitting or standing around.

North Somerset HAF

Disabled Families

People, including children and adults, gathered in a park during daytime. Some children are playing with musical instruments, and a woman is helping a child with a drum. Several adults are standing and chatting, while others are sitting or pushing strollers. The background shows trees and a grassy field with more people.
Four people playing musical instruments indoors, with a background of a staircase and a bulletin board. The group includes a child playing a xylophone, an adult with glasses and a hat playing a mallet instrument, and two children playing drums.

Autism and Non-specified LD

Larger Scale Community Events

A young girl wearing headphones is playing a drum set in a music room, with an adult holding a drumstick for her.
People attending a live musical performance in a cozy, well-lit indoor venue with green seating and a stage decorated with string lights and starry backdrop.

Dementia Support Groups

Hospital Settings

Three elderly women and a young woman sitting in chairs at a table, playing musical instruments and laughing, with shelves of books and board games in the background.
A woman playing a red keyboard, wearing a purple shirt, purple lanyard, and a headset, is performing for two men with disabilities, one in a wheelchair and one sitting nearby, in an indoor setting with framed artwork on the wall.

Teens with EBSA

Supported Disabled Adults

A group of four children and an adult playing musical instruments in a classroom with windows, bunting, and a banner that reads 'Saturday Club'. The children are playing guitar, drums, and keyboard, with various equipment and cables on the floor.
Group of people sitting in a circle in a colorful room with music-themed wall art, some holding musical instruments and smiley face emojis, with musical equipment and toys on the floor.

Neurodivergent Teens

Home Education Groups

Young man with curly hair playing a red bass guitar, sitting on a stage with musical equipment, with two people in the background, one sitting at a drum set.
A group of children and a woman playing musical instruments in a room decorated for a holiday. The children are playing guitar, accordion, and tambourine, while the woman is playing a saxophone. There is a Christmas-themed garland on a table and a sign that says "Now Hear This Music."

And many more…

Leadership

Founder

Laura Porter — Founder and Director

Now Hear This Music C.I.C. was founded by Laura Porter, a neurodivergent professional musician and community music leader whose work is shaped by lived experience of disability and the long-term psychological impact of trauma. The organisation is intentionally led through lived experience, which is central to how the work is designed, delivered, and governed.

Directors

When the organisation was incorporated and additional directors were appointed, Laura deliberately chose people whose lived experience aligns with the values and purpose of the organisation, alongside relevant professional expertise.

James Sherlock — Director
James first began attending Now Hear This Music sessions as the parent of a disabled child. He works as a community pharmacist, bringing both lived and professional insight into health, care, and community systems. He also provides personal access support to Laura, supporting her to continue leading the organisation.

Daniel Onions — Director
Daniel is disabled and neurodivergent, with ADHD, Dyspraxia, and Bipolar Disorder. He has a professional background in advocacy and in legal work for organisations including Shelter and SWAN, contributing extensive experience in rights-based practice and systemic change.

Now Hear This Music C.I.C. is led by people with lived experience of disability, exclusion, and the systems it seeks to change. This is a deliberate and essential part of how the organisation works.

To learn more about how this work developed, including the research, lived experience, and turning points that shaped our approach, visit Our Evolution page.