Youth Music publishes Impact and Learning Report 2013-14
Read about Youth Music's investment in the music education sector in the 2013-14 Impact Report, and the findings from projects the charity supports in the new Learning Report.
Download the Youth Music Impact Report 2013-14
Download the Youth Music Learning Report 2013-14
During 2013-14, Youth Music awarded 182 grants to 165 music organisations, representing an investment of £9.3m in young people’s music-making. The Impact Report notes the charity’s success in reaching out to more children in challenging circumstances as well as a significant increase in the employment of paid music leaders across its funded projects and a more equitable spread of its investment across the regions of England.
FOCUS ON CHILDREN IN CHALLENGING CIRCUMSTANCES
The report highlights Youth Music’s achievement in providing opportunities for children and young people whose challenging circumstances might otherwise act as barriers to accessing music-making. Eighty percent of participants in 2013-14 were facing significant challenges in their lives (compared to 57% in 2012-13) with Youth Music investing over £6m in music projects specifically focusing on young people from such backgrounds. This follows a refresh of Youth Music’s mission, vision and values in 2012, placing music-making for children in challenging circumstances at the core of its work.
In 2013-14, rural isolation and special educational needs were the challenges most commonly faced by project participants, along with financial difficulties, English as a second language, substance abuse (either of children themselves, or their parents or carers), and physical or mental health issues.
EQUITABLE REGIONAL SPREAD OF INVESTMENT
In 2013-14, 42% of Youth Music’s investment went to the 20% most deprived boroughs in the UK, helping to ensure the provision of music-making opportunities for children most in need. The application of the charity’s regional weighting system to each funding round has ensured greater equity across the regions of England, with 83% of the funding being awarded to projects outside the Greater London area in 2013-14.
Youth Music remains committed to ensuring that areas with lower cultural engagement are prioritised for funding.
Matt Griffiths, Youth Music’s Executive Director said:
“I’m delighted these figures demonstrate that we're using our investment and resources with even greater pin-point accuracy. Our regional balancing system is clearly ensuring geographical fairness across the regions of England, enabling us to reach more children and young people whose challenging circumstances create significant barriers to regular music-making.”
DIVERSITY OF MUSIC GENRE
Youth Music projects continue to engage participants in music-making across a diverse range of music genres. Seventy-five percent of projects use pop and rock, while almost a third use a variety of classical music genres. Overall, culturally diverse music genres, including African, Asian and reggae are embraced by 29% of the projects while folk music is played in 49%. This diverse offering reflects the interests of participants and is a major factor in strengthening their levels of engagement in music-making.
SUPPORTING THE MUSIC EDUCATION SECTOR
Youth Music supported a substantial increase in the number of paid music leaders working on its funded projects in the last year. 2,455 music leaders were employed across 163 projects compared to 916 in the previous year. Youth Music supported continuing professional development for 2,042 members of project staff in 2013-14.
Matt Griffiths continued:
“I’m pleased that we’ve supported more paid opportunities for the music leader workforce compared to the previous year, together with an increased number of professional development opportunities. This is a significant contribution towards ensuring that our workforce is fully equipped to lead inclusive and diverse music-making, as well as developing their professional practice.”
IMPORTANCE OF YOUTH MUSIC FUNDING TO MUSIC ORGANISATIONS
In a survey of grantholders, 72% of respondents said that in the current climate of budget cuts to the arts, Youth Music funding was either ‘crucial’ or ‘very important’ to their organisation.
Photo by Grand Union: Young people performing in their winter concert as part of the Grand Union Youth Orchestra, a project supported by Youth Music.