ALREADY REELING from the impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, musicians in 2023 are now battling to navigate their careers through the cost-of-living crisis.
It’s been reported that one in four musicians in the UK skip meals and 51 per cent have taken up second jobs due to an increase in financial struggles.
Music education is facing a serious decline and is becoming restricted to the privileged few who can afford to purchase an instrument and regular tuition.
There has been a 21 per cent decrease in music teaching amongst state schools in the past five years, whilst the private sector has seen a seven per cent increase. By limiting access to music education, not only will the UK lose a major part of its talent pipeline, but it will impact young people and their ability to express themselves through the arts.
The mounting prices and lack of widespread music services mean that children from deprived areas are shut out of music qualifications.
This may be detrimental to the all-round educational development of our young people. Research shows that participating in music activities can be exceptionally beneficial to children: increases learning and aids health and well-being, along with emotional and cognitive skills. It also forms valuable relationships and common interests, which are crucial steps in tackling gang violence and anti-social activity.
This is something that is important to the Music Relief Foundation (MRF), a small charity working to provide affordable music services to the grassroots communities of Croydon.
MRF Parent Music Relief Foundation was founded in 2011 by Magdalene Adenaike.
The charity was inspired by Adenaike’s first-hand experiences of the hardships, isolation, and challenges faced by homelessness and becoming a teenage parent.
During this period, she discovered the transformative power of music and the importance of bringing other teenage mothers together to share their stories. Born and raised in Nigeria, Adenaike and her family relocated to the UK in 1992.
From a young age, Adenaike was inspired by youth work, running lessons at the Sunday school in her local church. She found the big move to the UK difficult and dealt with bullying at school due to differences in her accent and the way she dressed. Adenaike fell pregnant at 17 and was shamed by her family and removed from the church choir.
Despite this, Adenaike went on to finish her sixth form studies and got a job at Barclays bank, all the while keeping up with her singing and exploring the world of song writing and recording. In 2008, she decided to go to university in East London to study Music Industry Management; here was where the sparks of the Music Relief Foundation began to ignite.
After graduating in 2011, the university supported Adenaike’s business idea to support teenage mums through music, with a particular focus on the Mother and Baby Unit at Croydon University Hospital.
The newfound organisation ran a pilot project aimed at these individuals, to improve their well-being and livelihood through music access.
In 2015, Music Relief Foundation became a Limited by Guarantee Charity, beginning to source funding for various projects and reach out to young people as a whole.
By providing ad-hoc music lessons to a group of young people, the organisation put on a powerful play in 2017, ‘Don’t Judge Me’, observing the growing distance between youth and the police due to a lack of understanding and a growing trend of generalisation. Here, the young people themselves used their voices and music to address the effects of knife crime, that continue to negatively impact Croydon’s youth to this day.
With a mission based on accessibility, affordability, and inclusivity, the MRF Music School offers music lessons at an initial price of £1.70 per hour for children from low-income backgrounds. In these lessons, children are encouraged to learn the keyboard, guitar, drums, or violin, under a wide genre bracket from classical to jazz and pop.
Launching the MRF Music School was very ambitious, as the charity’s funding and support was limited. However, MRF knew there was a need for music services, to enhance the lives of the grassroots communities across Croydon.
The decline of music teaching in schools has put further pressure on community organisations such as MRF to provide these services, which is not possible without local or government funding and support. 98 per cent of MRF families are from low-income backgrounds, relying on the service to offer their children new experiences, at a price they can afford. By supplementing lesson prices to keep them at a low price, MRF is struggling to continue running its services.
Through continued support and financial stability, MRF is looking to take on and renovate the Lord Napier, a pub once considered the heart of jazz in 960s South London.
The charity wants to spotlight the musical history of the area, whilst also building a future for its young people. Yet, this cannot be done without support.
MRF want to carry on this valuable work and extend their reach even further but need to galvanize as much support as possible to make it happen. The charity is aware that it cannot be solely reliant on funding and is re-strategizing to rebuild its music services and impact more families across South London, through multiple income streams.
These include monthly donations, encouraging people to fundraise and networking with individuals who can help our cause.
Music education can no longer be gatekept or restricted, especially from those most vulnerable in our community who need its life-changing benefits the most.
“Music Relief helps us to go to places that as young people we will not usually go to, to help us see a different life,” says a MRF Young Ambassador.
To support the work done by the Music Relief Foundation, working to improve the lives of young people in deprived areas, please donate or contact: [email protected] or contact directly: 0208 683 2922 / 07535 990 735 / Donate: https://localgiving.org/charity/music-relief/
The words for this article were provided by: Isabel Marquez
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