Youth Music launches £1.7million fund for pandemic music recovery
The funds will be shared among 40 music organisations to help youth music bounce back
UK charity Youth Music has launched a £1.7million fund to help support music projects with recovery post pandemic.
The Youth Music Recharge Fund will make £30,000 available a year for three years to successful applicants in Scotland, England and Wales.
The funding, from National Lottery, via Arts Council England, will be shared among 40 music organisations in an attempt to help youth music bounce back after the pandemic.
The intended outcomes of the funding are “improved wellbeing of staff, freelancers, volunteers, and young people”, and “improved capacity and capability of organisations”.
It can be put towards various needs, such as salaries, marketing, operations and more.
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. With young people nationwide being deeply impacted by the effects of the pandemic, equalising access to music is more important than ever.
“However, our research shows that opportunities for young people decreased during the pandemic, with 63% of music organisations from our national network reporting that they’ve had fewer resources at the same time as demand for services is increasing.
“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.”
Applications are open from today (November 23), and will close January 14, 2022, with successful applicants notified by March 25, 2022.
Find out more here.
Meanwhile, a new report has found that one in three UK musicians are still earning nothing after the worst of the pandemic lockdowns.
The report from charity Help Musicians revealed that the music industry is still finding it hard to recover from the pandemic, with 83% of professional musicians still struggling to find work.
The survey, which saw Help Musicians speak to nearly 1,000 musicians in August, weeks after lockdown ended, revealed that almost 90% were earning less than £1,000 a month, with over one in five of those considering a career change as a result.