Working in music can be hugely rewarding, but irregular income and life on the road can take a toll on your health. This page brings together the best support for musicians and music workers in Northern Ireland, from crisis lines and counselling to help with injuries and money worries when you’re unwell.
Every service listed is free unless we say otherwise. We check these details regularly, and they were last checked in October 2026.
If you’d like your organisation to be listed here, email news@musicconnections.com
IF YOU NEED HELP RIGHT NOW
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, or you’ve seriously hurt yourself, call 999 or go to your nearest Emergency Department. If you’re struggling but not in immediate danger, the services below are free and confidential. You can also text SHOUT to 85258 at any time of the day or night.
Lifeline
Northern Ireland’s crisis response helpline, open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Call free on 0808 808 8000, or use textphone 18001 0808 808 8000. You’ll speak to a trained counsellor, and you can stay anonymous if you’d rather.
Lifeline supports people of any age through suicidal thoughts, self-harm, trauma, depression and anxiety. It can also help if you’re worried about someone else, and it can arrange translators and sign language support through the SignVideo app.
Samaritans
Samaritans is there for anyone who’s struggling to cope, at any hour. Call free on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org, and they’ll reply within 24 hours. You don’t have to be suicidal to get in touch. The Belfast branch has been answering calls since 1961.
Music Minds Matter
The mental health service for everyone working in music across the UK, set up by Help Musicians. Call free on 0808 802 8008, 24 hours a day, or message the same number on WhatsApp. It doesn’t have to be a crisis, and it doesn’t have to be about music.
You’ll speak to trained advisers who can listen and support you, and point you towards counselling and other specialist help. The website also has self-help pages on stress and burnout and on worrying about someone else.
PIPS Charity
A Belfast-based suicide prevention charity supporting anyone who is thinking about ending their life, or who has in the past, along with families and friends who’ve been affected by suicide. Call free on 0800 088 6042 or 028 9080 5850, or email info@pipscharity.com.
Lines are open 9am to 9pm on weekdays and 10am to 6pm at weekends. Since September 2026 PIPS has also run a Weekend Crisis Hopeline on the same numbers, from 9pm on Friday to 10am on Saturday and from 9pm on Sunday to 9am on Monday. It has offices in Derry/Londonderry and Enniskillen too.
Minding Creative Minds
A free 24/7 mental health and wellbeing service for people working across the creative sector on the island of Ireland, Northern Ireland included. From here, call 0800 0903677. From the Republic it’s 1800 814 244.
It offers free short-term counselling by phone or video, along with live chat with a counsellor from 7am to 10pm every day through its website and app. You can also get advice on legal and financial matters.
MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT FOR MUSIC PEOPLE
Music Support
A charity run by and for people in the music and live events industries, helping anyone affected by mental ill health or addiction. Its helpline is staffed by people with lived experience who are trained in Mental Health First Aid. Call 0800 030 6789 from 9am to 5pm on weekdays, or email helpline@musicsupport.org.
Music Support also runs Safe Hubs backstage at festivals around the UK, and delivers training for music businesses.
Help Musicians: mental health support
Help Musicians is the UK’s charity for professional musicians, and it has an office in Belfast at the Oh Yeah Music Centre. Its mental health pages bring together the help it offers directly with support from partner organisations, so it’s a good place to find the right service if you’re not sure where to start.
BAPAM: mental health support
The British Association for Performing Arts Medicine offers free clinical assessments for psychological problems linked to working in the performing arts, such as performance anxiety or low mood. A clinician will talk things through with you and recommend the right next step. Book on 020 8167 4775, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
MENTAL HEALTH IN NORTHERN IRELAND
AWARE NI
Northern Ireland’s depression charity. AWARE runs free support groups across Northern Ireland for anyone aged 18 or over who is living with depression or bipolar disorder, with no referral and no waiting list. It also runs groups online.
Its courses include Living Life to the Full and Mindfulness. Contact the Belfast office on 028 9035 7820, the Derry/Londonderry office on 028 7126 0602, or email info@aware-ni.org.
Minding Your Head
The Public Health Agency’s mental health website for Northern Ireland, relaunched in December 2024. It has practical advice on looking after your mental health and dealing with stress, along with what to do if you’re worried about yourself or someone close to you. Its directory lets you search for local services by council area.
Hub of Hope
A free UK-wide directory of mental health support from the charity Chasing the Stigma. It brings together NHS, charity, community and peer services, so you can search for help near you or browse national services. There’s an app too.
Cruse Bereavement Support
Free support for anyone who’s been bereaved, whenever the death happened. Call the national helpline on 0808 808 1677, or contact the Belfast service on 028 9043 4600. Cruse has local services right across Northern Ireland, and this page lists the numbers for each one.
Cara-Friend
Cara-Friend supports the LGBTQIA+ community in Northern Ireland, with youth services for 12 to 25-year-olds and support for their families. All its services are confidential. Contact the office on 028 9089 0202 or admin@cara-friend.org.uk.
PHYSICAL, VOCAL AND HEARING HEALTH
BAPAM Belfast clinic
BAPAM runs a free clinic in Belfast at Ravenhill Business Park, where performers and music workers can see a physiotherapist who understands performing arts injuries. Online consultations are also available.
It’s a good first stop for playing-related pain or vocal strain. Book on 020 8167 4775 or email info@bapam.org.uk.
BAPAM factsheets and resources
Free factsheets from BAPAM on the health issues musicians face most, from hearing and voice care to playing-related injury and performance anxiety. They include Fit to Play, its overview of health and performance for instrumentalists.
Musicians’ Hearing Health Scheme
Run by Help Musicians, the scheme gives working musicians a hearing assessment and custom-fitted hearing protection for £50, or £37.50 for MU and ISM members. It’s open to musicians earning at least 40% of their income from music.
The scheme is paused while it moves to a new provider, but you can sign up on this page to hear when it reopens. In the meantime the page has useful advice on protecting your hearing.
MONEY WHEN YOU’RE UNWELL
Help Musicians: illness and injury
If illness or injury stops you working, Help Musicians may be able to help with grants towards treatment and living costs. Musicians living anywhere in the UK can apply, and the charity’s financial difficulties support covers debt and other money worries too.
The Royal Society of Musicians
One of the oldest music charities in the world, offering financial help to professional musicians whose physical or mental health is affecting their ability to work. You can also get in touch on behalf of a musician you know. Call 020 7629 6137 or email grants@rsmgb.org.
Advice NI
Free, independent advice on benefits and debt across Northern Ireland, including help with Universal Credit and disability benefits. If being unwell has hit your income, this is a good place to find out what you’re entitled to. Call free on 0800 915 4604, or find your nearest advice centre on the website.
CREW AND TECHNICAL WORKERS
Backup
The charity for technical workers in live events, theatre, TV and film across the UK. It gives grants to people facing serious illness, injury or hardship, and runs a free 24/7 wellbeing helpline. Details are on its website.
Stagehand
A charity supporting UK-based live production workers who can’t work because of serious illness or injury. It offers small hardship grants and help with retraining. Email hello@stagehand.org.uk.
BULLYING AND HARASSMENT
Help Musicians: bullying and harassment support
If you’re experiencing bullying or harassment in your work, Help Musicians runs a free, confidential helpline offering non-judgemental support and advice. Call 0800 088 2045.
CIISA reporting service
The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority opened its confidential reporting service on 13 October 2026, for anyone working in music, film, TV and theatre in the UK. You can report anonymously.
For now, CIISA uses reports to build a picture of harmful behaviour across the sector rather than investigating individual cases, and it will point you to support where needed. Northern Ireland has its own whistleblowing law, so get advice on the protections that apply to you.
GUIDES AND TOOLKITS
Musicians’ Wellbeing Guidance Pack
The Musicians’ Union’s guide to looking after your mental and physical health as a musician. It covers burnout and staying well on tour, and points you towards specialist organisations such as BAPAM and Music Support when you need more help.
MMF Guide to Mental Health
The Music Managers Forum published this free guide in 2021 with Music Support and Help Musicians. It’s written for managers, with chapters on stress, imposter syndrome, anxiety and depression, and alcohol and drug dependency, but much of it applies to anyone working in music.
Being a Healthy Musician
Dr George Waddell of the Royal College of Music’s Centre for Performance Science sets out what it means to be a healthy musician, written for the college’s Upbeat magazine in 2020. He looks at physical health, such as exercise and posture, alongside mental wellbeing and hearing protection.
Balance Toolkit
Made during the pandemic by the hub with partners including Arts Council England, this toolkit has more than 100 short videos, reads and exercises to help artists and creative freelancers look after their mental health and their finances. It hasn’t been updated since 2021, but much of it is still useful. You’ll need to sign up for free to use it.
