We believe in the power of music – to enrich the lives of children and young people, and in some cases transform them. We are passionate about enabling all young people to engage with music of all types and, if they wish it, for them to pursue their musical hopes and dreams.
Once upon a time, learning to play an instrument, singing in a choir or playing in a band/orchestra were free for many children and their families. But some years ago fees and charges were introduced, all over the country, to compensate for the cuts in local and central government funding. This has meant that music learning, beyond what is provided in schools, is increasingly becoming the province of the most advantaged families.
We know that there are many children and young people whose families/carers cannot afford these charges and find it very difficult to pay for musical activities that, for some older generations, were completely free. We want all children to have access to high quality musical opportunities irrespective of their family circumstances.
Music making is a journey. It can be a journey of several years and even for life, for some. We exist as a charity to support young people in their music making journeys, particularly those who may be in challenging circumstances, or for whom there are significant barriers to accessing music opportunities and making progress.
We do this by raising money in lots of different ways so that we can help with, for example, the costs of lessons, instruments, ensemble membership or other activities. We have a new major fundraising campaign “Gift of Music” which will be launched in Autumn 2020.
We are the partner charity of Bolton Music Service and we currently focus our support on children and young people who live and/or attend a school in Bolton, and attend, or wish to attend Bolton Music Service activities and events.
We are proud and delighted to work in partnership with other organisations, including: