Snow Patrol frontman donates £50k to help struggling musicians
SNOW Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody has donated £50,000 to help struggling musicians in Northern Ireland.
The money has been given to the Help Musicians NI charity, which supports professional musicians.
In a statement from the Lightbody Foundation, the singer also criticised the relative lack of funding for the local arts sector compared to the rest of the UK.
“At times like these health is of course the priority which is why recent and future donations from us have been for health and mental health-based charities. However, surely the preservation of our culture is extremely important too. There has been no government relief funding for struggling musicians in Northern Ireland like there has been in the rest of the UK,” he said.
He noted that Arts Council England had pledged £160m in Covid relief to the arts, with £20m going to creators. Scotland had pledged £13m and Wales had pledged £10m.
“This compares to £1.5m in Northern Ireland for grants that require an artist to prove the money will be spent on taking new and innovative approaches to a future project,” he said.
“Musicians in England, Scotland and Wales have been given access to no strings attached grants to help them through this time of no gigs. Surely NI bands and artists deserve to be treated with similar care.”
The singer said the music scene in Northern Ireland had flourished since the end of the Troubles, but it was still a young scene which needed protecting.
“I am of course not talking about bands that have done well like ourselves. I’m talking about bands that need to be playing live shows to make ends meet and of course there are no live shows at the moment or for the foreseeable future.”
The Lightbody Foundation was founded in July last year, to provide funding to existing charitable organisations and community groups.
A statement from the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast thanked Mr Lightbody for his “incredible generosity, support and genuine concern for people and artists”.
Local musicians were also quick to show their appreciation on the Lightbody Foundation page.
One man said: “Genuinely appreciate the donation but also the words which are absolutely spot on. My life and the life of others who are completely self-employed as musicians just seem to have been forgotten about. Thanks so much guys for the consideration and thoughtful donation.”
A former musician turned nurse thanked him for offering help during lockdown.
“I don’t gig any more but I’ve so many friends that do. You have been very kind and thoughtful, a real credit to your country and its people. I’ve never known any other famous person from NI to be so extremely generous!”
Another woman working in the arts called the move a “fabulous gesture”.