Charity awards £240,000 in grants across UK schools to reverse national music GCSE decline

Grant giving music charity Restore The Music (RTM) has announced its latest funding round, which sees the organisation starting to reverse the national decline of music GCSE uptake.

In this new funding round, RTM has awarded £240,000 in grants to the music departments of 14 state schools in Manchester, London, Newcastle and Birmingham, reaching 11,000 pupils and enabling vital access to nearly 1,500 instruments and resources.

Since inception in 2013, RTM said it has awarded £2.6 million across nearly 150 state schools that have an average 50-60 per cent of children on free school meals, providing over 30,000 musical instruments to 110,000 children aged four to 18.

RTM has a long-term vision to transform young lives, by unlocking potential in young people from the UK’s most deprived areas through the power of music. 

With grants of £10,000 being awarded to primary schools, and £20,000 to secondary schools, in London eight schools were identified by RTM as among some of the most underserved in the capital and awarded grants totalling £150k, and a total of £90k was awarded to six Northern schools in three key northern cities Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle.

As well as increasing participation in music, RTM also aims to increase attendance and attainment. Recent impact reports across schools are showing hugely positive results and progress, which has led RTM to announce a new research study ‘5 Year Case Study Spotlight’ at RTM Grantee schools, to show how music education drives attendance, participation and attainment. 

RTM has a distinctive funding model with individual philanthropists making up a large amount of its funding capital. The charity has raised £240k for this latest funding round with donations from RTM’s annual fundraising gala, Sony Music Social Justice Fund, The Singer Family Charitable Foundation and The Rayne Trust.

Polly Stepan Moore, CEO and co-founder of Restore The Music, said: “We believe that social change is possible by putting musical instruments in the hands of schoolchildren, unlocking potential and enriching the lives of those most in need through the transformative power of music.

“Young musicians face more barriers to progression in the north of England, as demonstrated by Youth Music’s new report, so we remain passionately committed to supporting the Northern cities and targeting areas of highest deprivation in Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham.

“Meanwhile, eight schools in the capital were identified, with music departments that were some of the hardest hit, and where receiving a grant will be pivotal.”

The RTM Grantees include nine secondary schools, who each receive a £20,000 grant, include:

• Manchester Academy (Manchester)
• George Green’s School (Tower Hamlets, London)
• School 21 (Stratford, London)
• Harris Invictus Academy Croydon (London)
• Harris Academy Battersea (London)
• Ark All Saints Academy (Camberwell, London)
• Ark Burlington Danes Academy (London)
• Bolden School (Newcastle)
• Ark Boulton Academy (Birmingham)

The six RTM Grantee primary schools, who each receive a £10,000 grant, include:

• Manchester Communication Primary Academy (Manchester)
• Buxton School (Leytonstone, London)
• Ark Priory Primary Academy (Acton, London)
• School 21 (London)
• Four Dwellings Primary Academy (Birmingham)
• West Newcastle Academy (Newcastle)