£1.7m charity scheme to help young musicians

A CHARITY project granting more than £1.7m to help struggling young musicians and equalise access to music following the pandemic has been launched.

The People’s Postcode Lottery was supporting the charity Youth Music, which instigated its Recharge fund to provide a postpandemic boost for youth music projects nationwide.

The one-off sum of £1,750,000 will be used to support around 40 music organisations nationwide.

Successful applicants across Wales, England and Scotland will be able to access grants of up to £30,000 a year for three years.

Matt Griffiths, CEO of Youth Music, said: “Music has the power to transform lives for young people, especially those facing barriers because of who they are, where they’re from or what they’re going through.

“This financial boost will ensure that grassroots music projects, and the people leading them, can bounce back better than before. Which means more young people can make, learn and earn in music over the next few years, thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

“With young people nationwide being deeply impacted by the effects of the pandemic, equalising access to music is more important than ever.”

The Youth Music Recharge Fund was designed following research the charity undertook last year about how Covid-19 affected youth music-making, which found that 60% of creative organisations wanted help with funding and income diversification.

Funding through the National Lottery via Arts Council England and players of People’s Postcode Lottery have enabled Youth Music to invest more than £3m in projects nationally over the last three months.

Applicants can access the process https://youthmusic.org. uk/recharge-fund which opened yesterday and closes on January 14 next year.