A MOBBERLEY care home has benefitted from a 600-mile charity cycle as its parent company looks to roll-out music therapy sessions across the country.

The value of the sessions was proven at MHA-run dementia care home The Willows during a visit by Nick Snelson, managing director of APS Group – one of five cyclists to take on the £20,000 challenge.

Nick, along with APS Group directors John Holmes, Stephen Goodall and Dave Barratt, cycled from La Rochelle in France to the company headquarters in Cheadle to boost the MHA project.

After enjoying a session with residents in the Faulkner’s Lane home, the MD handed over a cheque to MHA chairman of trustees John Robinson and chief music therapist Ming Hung Hsu.

Nick said: “They say a picture may be worth a thousand words, but music carries a million memories … and after seeing the effects of music therapy, this has never been truer. Contributing to this cause has been an honour.”

His brother, Rick, has also taken on a pedal power challenge for the cause, cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

Ming Hung Hsu said: “The support that Nick and the team from APS Group has given to raising money for music therapy is fantastic and will help us provide more music therapy sessions.

“We know from the work that we do on a daily basis how music therapy really helps our residents living with dementia.

“It might be a favourite piece of music which helps calm them, a particular rhythm that we discover through sessions which we can bring into their everyday lives.”

MHA is one of the largest employers of music therapy, with 21 music therapists. In 2016/17, the charity provided 10,940 music therapy sessions, both in one-to-one and group settings.

To expand the service across its homes, MHA is aiming to raise £1.5 million and employ 35 more music therapists.