Mediating COVID-19 issues

Making Music Corporate Member Hugh Elder Mediation is offering Making Music member groups five hours of free mediation to help resolve COVID-19 related issues, such as venue hire and professional musician engagement.

What is mediation? 

Mediation is a voluntary, structured and, above all, confidential process to help people and businesses find a workable resolution to an actual or potential dispute without the expense, time and damage to relationships involved in taking a case to trial. A mediator is completely impartial and helps parties to reach an amicable solution. A mediator does not act as a judge or arbitrator and cannot give legal advice to either party or represent them in any legal proceedings. No mediation can take place unless all parties agree both to mediate and on the choice of mediator. Find out more on the Hugh Elder Mediation website.

What is Hugh Elder Mediation?

Hugh Elder is an enthusiastic amateur choral singer and accredited mediator, trained to help people to resolve their disputes by facilitated dialogue rather than court proceedings and to find a solution with which they can live.

About the pro bono offer:

• All communications with Hugh Elder are completely confidential; no details will be disclosed to Making Music (or anyone else) without your specific approval.  
• This offer extends to issues arising from COVID-19, not to personal issues in which members might be involved, e.g. neighbour or inheritance disputes or matrimonial matters (I do not handle the latter in any event). It is also subject to my availability.
• This offer is limited to five hours of Hugh Elder's time for each case, including reading any relevant papers, pre-mediation private and confidential discussions with each party including training on using Zoom for those unfamiliar with the platform. The mediation itself, normally to follow a few days’ later, would last no more than three hours (not necessarily all on one day) and would be online or by telephone. If, after lockdown ends, the parties prefer to mediate face-to-face rather than online they would have to arrange and pay for a suitable venue.
• A mediator is completely impartial and helps parties to reach an amicable solution. Accordingly, a mediator does not act as a judge or arbitrator and cannot give legal advice to either party or represent them in any legal proceedings.
• No mediation can take place unless all parties agree both to mediate and on the choice of mediator.

How to access the offer

Email Hugh without any obligation and in the strictness confidence, putting ‘Making Music’ in the subject field, and giving your group's name and brief details of your case in the body of the email.

We hope you find this Making Music resource useful. If you have any comments or suggestions about the guidance please contact us. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the content of this guidance is accurate and up to date, Making Music do not warrant, nor accept any liability or responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the content, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on the information contained in it.