Our young musicians face crisis

National Lottery accounts hacked

THE National Lottery advised 10.5 million people with online accounts to change their passwords after several were hacked ahead of last night’s £14million Euromillions draw.

Organiser Camelot insisted last night that none of the customers involved had lost any money.

But it sent an email asking customers to change the passwords on their accounts as a precaution. The company also put a warning notice on its website which is described as an “Important player notice”.

It said: “As part of our regular security monitoring, we have seen some suspicious activity on a very small number of players’ accounts.

“We have contacted those whose accounts have been affected.”

A spokeswoman said: “The activity has been extremely low level and very sporadic.

“We would like to reassure our players that we do not display full debit card or bank account details on their online accounts. We have suspended all of the affected accounts and have contacted these players to help them re-activate their accounts.” YOUNG musicians face a “crisis” that could see Britain failing to produce the David Bowies, Adeles and Ed Sheerans of the future, warn four UK music organisations.

Creative United, OHMI, Drake Music and OpenUp Music are calling on the Government to help at least 25,000 families across the UK get access to instruments over the next four years. The group also wants to see musical instruments provided for both disabled and able-bodied children.

Creative United’s MaryAlice Stack said: “It’s never been harder for teenagers to become musicians and there’s never been fewer of them doing it.

“We need the Government to work with us to ensure opportunities for young people to develop creative talents are open to all.”

The move marks 10 years of the “Take It Away” scheme which has handed out £63million in interest-free loans to help budding musicians buy instruments.

Andrew Miller, the Government’s disability champion for the arts and culture sector, hailed the initiative as a “positive step forward to inclusion”.