Scott Winwood has been living with Multiple Sclerosis since he was 23 but only now has he found the voice to express his feelings about his condition through the power of music.
Scott, who lives in Crookes, is supported by the St Luke’s Community team and is also a regular visitor to the Patient and Family Support services at our Ecclesall Road South site.
It was there that he met musician Jamie Roberts who – along with musical partner Julia Waldron - leads weekly music sessions for patients.
Jamie and Julia are part of The Swan Song Project, a charity that supports anyone living with a terminal illness, planning their end stage of life or dealing with bereavement to write and record their own original song.
With Jamie’s encouragement and support, Scott discovered a previously untapped musical voice he admits he never even knew he had.
And he has now composed and recorded his debut song, The Absurdity of Hope, which is based on his personal MS journey.
“I’ve never done anything like this in my life, it was just something I’d never even considered but I have thoroughly enjoyed it and it’s been good fun,” Scott said.
“My house is full of books and people have always told me I should write my story down but I just thought I couldn’t be bothered.
“But then I thought that writing lyrics might be easier and I found it was relatively easy once I set my mind to it – I had some ideas so it was just a case of sitting down and getting on with it.”
The words came first and then, with the support of Jamie, the music came next.
“I’m very happy with the result but I don’t know what will happen to it now,” Scott said.
“All the feedback is that people really like it so I am going to write more – in fact I have something in the pipeline now, but it’s more of a dance tune this time!”
To hear Scott perform The Absurdity of Hope visit https://swansongproject.co.uk/the-absurdity-of-hope/
To find out more about St Luke’s Patient and Family Support services visitwww.stlukeshospice.org.uk
To find out more about The Swan Song Project visit www.swansongproject.co.uk