Vinly Warriors project develops digital music skills for older people

AGE’s member from Slovenia ZDUS is partnering with the Ballybeen Women’s Centre from Nothern Ireland on the new European project VINYL WARRIORS: Rediscovering Your Musical Youth – Digital Skills Training for Seniors. The project proposes to create and provide a new training programme that encourages retirees to develop their digital skills in music and rediscover their musical youth. It is also aimed to address the social isolation older people may face after retirement.

As research tells us, the personal health of retirees may decline after retirement which results in many retired persons experiencing mental ill-including depression. By encouraging those who are retired to actively engage with members of their community, a positive impact can be seen on their mental health and self-esteem. Participants in the project will learn the key digital skills required to record, in audio and video, the musical performance that they may have dreamed of for years.

Throughout the course of the VINYL WARRIORS project, partner organisations from Northern Ireland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia, and Spain will work with adult education providers, active ageing organisations and older people. To support adult trainers to deliver the ‘Digital Skills Training Programme’, the project proposes the development of a unique ‘In-ser Training Programme’. All this learning content will be presented through the VINYL WARRIORS MOOC (Massive Open Online Courseware), an online platform, where seniors and their peers, adult education providers and active ageing organisations will be able to access the learning materials developed as part of the project.

For more information on the project you can read its first newsletter or visit the project website and Facebook page.