Deadline: 23-Jun-23
The Youth Music is seeking applications to support children and young people facing barriers to make, learn or earn in music and makes music activity more inclusive, so more children and young people facing barriers can access it.
The Youth Music believes that every young person should have the chance to change their life through music. Yet their research shows that many can’t because of who they are, where they’re from or what they’re going through.
The Youth Music Trailblazer Fund is offering grants to organisations in England to run projects for children and young people (25 or under) to make, learn and earn in music.
The Youth Music Trailblazer fund is financed with National Lottery funding, which they receive through Arts Council England.
Themes
- Early years
- For children aged 0–5 who face barriers to accessing music-making because of their circumstances or where they live. They encourage programmes that promote:
- Access to quality, creative musical experiences that support children’s developmental needs.
- Shared learning between early years specialists, music specialists and parents, so that all become skilled, confident, and engaged in encouraging young children’s musicality.
- Workforce diversification.
- For children aged 0–5 who face barriers to accessing music-making because of their circumstances or where they live. They encourage programmes that promote:
- Disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent young people
- They encourage programmes for young people (aged 0–25) that:
- Ensure that they have equitable access to progress in music in a way that meets their needs and aspirations.
- Provide routes for Disabled young people into the workforce (where appropriate).
- They encourage programmes for young people (aged 0–25) that:
- Young adults
- For young adults aged 16-25 who want to take their music further, or for whom music can support wider personal and social outcomes. They encourage programmes that:
- Improve young people’s confidence, skills, social networks and emotional wellbeing as well as providing specific mentoring, networking, and industry opportunities.
- Increase and enhance engagement with employment, education and training.
- For young adults aged 16-25 who want to take their music further, or for whom music can support wider personal and social outcomes. They encourage programmes that:
- Youth justice system
- For children and young people (aged 0-25) who are, have been, or are at risk of being involved with the youth justice system. They encourage programmes that:
- Are youth-led and offer culturally relevant and engaging music programmes that promote personal and social outcomes alongside musical development.
- Work in partnership with other organisations and agencies to support safeguarding and progression and ensure that young people’s needs are met.
- For children and young people (aged 0-25) who are, have been, or are at risk of being involved with the youth justice system. They encourage programmes that:
- Young people facing barriers
- For children and young people (aged 0–25) who face barriers to music-making due to their characteristics or life circumstances, or because of where they live. They encourage programmes that:
- Work in partnership with other organisations and agencies to reach young people facing barriers and ensure that their needs are met.
- For children and young people (aged 0–25) who face barriers to music-making due to their characteristics or life circumstances, or because of where they live. They encourage programmes that:
- Organisations and the workforce
- Work that benefits the people and organisations who provide inclusive musicmaking opportunities for children and young people (aged 0-25). They encourage programmes that support and encourage:
- Organisations to be innovative, resilient, and inclusive.
- A diverse workforce that is networked, and skilled in inclusive practice with children and young people.
- Work that benefits the people and organisations who provide inclusive musicmaking opportunities for children and young people (aged 0-25). They encourage programmes that support and encourage:
Funding Information
- Grant sizes are between £2,000 and £30,000.
- Duration: Projects last between 6 and 24 months.
Eligible Projects
- The project should trial work for the first time, test a new way of working, or disrupt the status quo (or all three). A Trailblazer project could be:
- A new CIC testing out different ways of supporting nurseries to embed music-making into their day-to-day activities.
- A Music Education Hub that wants to disrupt the status quo of their local music scene by setting up a Youth Board that has budget & power to make decisions about how the hub is run.
- An established youth centre trialling a programme of music activities for the first time.
Target Organisations
- Small organisations who support children and young people to make, learn or earn in music.
- Those who work with children and young people facing barriers who want to trial a new music offer.
- Established organisations that want to test a new way of working or disrupt the status quo.
Eligibility Criteria
- You are committed to improving equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in your organisation (this includes youth voice and participation).
- You are keen to develop your organisation.
- They want to fund organisations that are open to developing. This means evaluating and reflecting on what you do, engaging with Youth Music, and being collaborative.
- Youth Music likes to experiment, make mistakes, adjust, learn, and improve. They try to be honest with ourselves about what is and isn’t working. And they want the organisations they fund to be the same! If you have a Trailblazer grant, they will be there to celebrate your successes, help when things need to change and support if things don’t go to plan.
- You are a constituted UK based organisation.
- Sole traders and individuals can’t apply to this fund.
- If you are a voluntary group not registered with Companies House or the Charity Commission, you must have a constitution and management committee.
- You must be legally constituted before you submit your application. If your set-up date is less than one year before the application deadline, you can apply for a maximum of £15,000.
- You are keen to develop your organisation.
- You have a bank account in the name of the organisation.
- You have a set of recent accounts.
- You have the correct insurance in place and comply with all relevant statutory legislation.
- You have a safeguarding policy that is reflected on and updated regularly.
For more information, visit National Foundation for Youth Music.