"Leeds-based charity The Swan Song Project has recently been awarded a 'Shine a Light' award for going above and beyond to support bereaved people across the country. When Sharna Matthews found out her lung cancer was terminal, she turned to music to process her...

Leeds-based charity The Swan Song Project has recently been awarded a 'Shine a Light' award for going above and beyond to support bereaved people across the country. The Swan Song Project is a unique charity that helps terminally ill and bereaved people write songs as...

Thank you to Bradford based paper The Telegraph & Argus for this lovely feature about our work. "Swan Songs tell the stories of loved ones life". Featured 19/12/24. Click the link below to read the full story. "WHEN Michael Mcalpine’s wife Nicky died in his arms,...

Bradford widower remembers his late wife in a song this Christmas.   Michael Mcalpine sadly lost his wife Nicky on the 10th January 2024. It has been a tough year for Michael processing his grief, one thing that really helped him was writing a song in memory of Nicky...

Read "Songs can live forever" In conversation with Ben Buddy Slack in issue 11 of Rarity Life magazine. Rarity Life Magazine is a truly inclusive magazine for those affected by disability, rare disease or cancer and is produced by Same but Different CIC. It is a great...

We are very excited to have reached episode 100 of The Swan Song Podcast and can't wait to share it with you.   We started the podcast in 2020 when we were unable to visit hospices for our usual songwriting work. The aim was to share inspiring and practal information...

I'm very pleased to announce that I have been invited to speak at an International Songwriting Conference. The "Saved by a Song" 2024 Conference organsied by ICMP London - The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance There is a range of amazing people exploring The...

Aire Valley Jam Fundraising for The Swan Song Project. George Quinn - A local musician is organising a special jam session style event featuring many of the regions finest musicians. The music will be non-stop with musicians interchanging between songs with many...

Read about how Boff Whalley from Chumbawamba helped to create a Swan Song inspired by their hit song "Tubthumping".   Cath O’Neill was in hospital listening to the Chris Evans Breakfast show on April 25th when she heard Ben Buddy Slack talking about The Swan Song...

April 25th 2023 marked 5 years of The Swan Song Project being a registered charity and we were delighted to be invited back to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show to mark the occassion. Chris Evans first heard about Swan Song in 2019 and he invited Ben onto the show...

We’ve launched a fundraiser to mark our fifth birthday. Yes, we’ve been registered as a charity and helping people write their own songs for five years this April. We’d like to reach many more people in the next five years so have launched a birthday appeal to attract...

About 7 years ago I had an idea of helping people approaching the end of their lives to write and record an original song. This was inspired by the death of my Grandma and me regretting not writing a song with her before she passed. In may 2017 I started writing songs...

A fantastic Leeds-based charity that works with terminally ill people and their families to make songs that will last after their deaths is to feature on a new TV series. Read the full story from the Yorkshire Evening Post here:...

Swan Song founder and Creative Director Ben Buddy Slack has been shortlisted for the "Community Champion Award" at this years Third Sector Awards. The Third Sector Awards celebrate the amazing work done by people and organisations working at charities. The award...

"Amazing Starts Here" is a new podcast series hosted by Love Island winner Amber Rose Gill. The podcast shares "inspiring stories from ordinary people who do extraordinary things with the help of The National Lottery." Episode 2 features an in depth interview with...

We are incredibly excited to be recruiting our first cohort of new songwriters to help more people celebrate life in a song. We are aiming to recruit a diverse group of freelance songwriters from a range of backgrounds and musical styles to ensure our service can meet...

Jon Gomm is a singer/songwriter based in Yorkshire, UK, known around the world for his virtuoso guitar playing style, soulful singing and his honest and emotive songwriting style.  Jon has recently pledged his support to a small charity called The Swan Song Project,...

I heard about The Swan Song Project from my brother. One of his friends knew Ben. We were actually with Mum at the time. Mum spent the last week of her life in the Bexley Wing at St James's hospital. Restrictions on visiting due to covid meant we were limited to two...

  I was introduced to Ben at The Swan Song Project through Hope, a registered charity who help young people when a loved one is seriously ill – I can’t find the words to thank Ben and all the musicians involved in my song, it meant so much to my whole family. My uncle...

A donation of £15,000 from a Havant crematorium will help a charity provide its services across the whole country. The donation to The Swan Song Project by The Oaks Crematorium was thanks to the generosity of families who have lost a loved one. The donation was raised...

Leeds musician recording memories for bereaved families is recognised by National Lottery We are absolutley thrilled to announce the arrival of a bespoke bench in honour of Swan Song founder Ben Buddy Slack. The bench is 1 of 13 across the country dedicated to people...

"My grandma always loved music and we’d sing and play music at her house. Towards the end of her life she was in a care home. My uncle and I went to visit her one day when she was pretty unresponsive, until we started playing “Black Velvet Band” (a traditional folk...

                      Just weeks before the end of his life Ron Reed stood up in front of residents at the Marie Curie hospice to sing (pictured below). His young children were with him, joining in with the chorus...

"Meet the Leeds-based musician and would-be detective who’s helping the terminally ill create a legacy through song. “I was nothing, now I’m me,” Vic Simborowski sings quietly, his face wrought with emotion. Opposite him, a heavily bearded man with tattooed forearms...

We are delighted to have gained the support of Sarah Jones of Full Circle Funerals, author of the Amazon bestselling funeral self-help book Funerals Your Way.  Sarah will be donating the proceeds of the book to The Swan Song Project throughout 2021 after being...

Vic Simborowski didn’t get to meet his new grandson who was born just three weeks before Vic died at the age of 70. But thanks to The Swan Song Project – a National Lottery-funded organisation that helps people nearing the end of their life write and record a song –...

Help us to win £5,000! We need your votes by midday on 21st December  The Swan Song Project has the chance to win £5,000 in the Marsh Commercial For The People Awards. Wow!   As a small charity, that makes a big impact, we need your help to secure as many votes as...

The National Lottery  is launching 12 Community Benches across the UK to honour individuals that have gone above and beyond for their community. We are so thrilled that one of these is dedicated to our very own Ben Buddy Slack for his work with The Swan Song Project....

At the time of writing this I am in my fourth week as Fundraising Manager at The Swan Song Project – and what a fantastic four weeks it has been! I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on my time so far and to share a thing or two with you. Having been a Swan Song...

The first 10 weeks of The Swan Song Project In May 2017 I began the first sessions for The Swan Song Project at Marie Curie Hospice Bradford.  I had been developing this project for what seemed like a long time, about 18 months since initial idea so I was very excited...

The Yorkshire charity was founded in 2017 by songwriter Ben Buddy Slack after he lost his grandma and was left regretting not recording her singing. Since then, the project has supported more than 60 people to express themselves in song.   Search for a song by Song or...

Musician and songwriter Ben Slack is helping people living with a terminal illness to compose songs about their lives. Working with Ben, people write and record a piece of music and then share it with friends and family if they wish to. Search for a song by Song or...

A Yorkshire charity is helping patients with terminal illnesses write a song they can leave behind for their loved ones. The Swan Song Project was started by Ben Slack at Marie Curie Hospice Bradford in May 2017. Vic Simborowski, who recently wrote a song with their...

A man from Leeds is set to get national recognition tonight for the work he's done through the charity - The Swan Song Project. Ben Slack set up the charity following the death of his grandmother two years ago. Search for a song by Song or writers nameThanks to our...

The Swan Song Project founded by Ben Buddy Slack, helps individuals and their families facing end of life to process their feelings and emotions through writing and recording their own original songs.   Search for a song by Song or writers nameThanks to our...

Radio presenter Chris Evans has thrown his support behind a Leeds ‘unsung hero’ and his charity, by donating £25,000 live on air.   Search for a song by Song or writers nameThanks to our supporters