Transforming young lives through music – Anthem Music Fund Wales & the Atsain Fund supports 27 organisations across Wales to engage with young people in 12 months.
Anthem. Cronfa Gerdd Cymru Music Fund Wales has announced the Atsian Fund will continue to support a further 12 organisations in addition to the previous 15 recipients in 2022. In one year, 27 organisations will now benefit from over £220,000 funds to help them deliver young music projects to help address barriers to music for young people in Wales.
Anthem Music Fund Wales believes that every young person deserves the opportunity to engage and explore what music can do for them. Their mission is to enable access to music, generate more opportunities and nurture diverse talent to take the next steps to musical careers.
Atsain Fund launched 12 months ago and supports organisations working for young people engaging in music who experience barriers through life circumstances, geographical issues, identity or background, and is backed by investment from Youth Music thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, and Anthem’s resources with support from founding patrons and Welsh Government.
So far over 1300 young people have benefited directly from Atsain, and a further 2500 is expected to be engaged in the next year.
One of the first recipients, the Wilderness Trust in Llanidloes which works in the field of biodiversity and music, said,‘‘Atsain helped us to diversify the audience and the groups we can reach – because of that we have seen a lot of people who have never been into the space before. The Trust is now looking to expand the music provision to meet the increasing demand. Parents also positively reported to us unexpected wellbeing and socialisation benefits from the music Workshops. ” Project Manager, Luc-Antoine Bonte.
The next cohort of organsiations benefiting from the fund include Arts Active, Music Theatre Wales, Oasis One World Choir, UCAN (Cardiff), Grand Ambition, Swansea MAD (Swansea) Little Live Projects, Sistema Codi’r to, Tanio (Bridgend) Torfaen Council and Rockworks Wrexham Sounds. (Wrexham).
Each organisation were able to apply up to £10,000 to help them deliver specific music projects for young people in Wales that address a specific barrier to engagement.
Grand Ambition company director Richard Mylan said ‘As our main funding partner, Anthem has been instrumental. The application process was crucial to the project’s development, helping Grand Ambition refine & concentrate Future Blood Swansea’s aims & objectives. Anthem’s knowledge in music project delivery is second to none & they were always on hand for advice. FBSwansea is so important to us. Enabling opportunities to young people who would otherwise not have access to instruments, equipment & rehearsal space in a peer led programme which allows talent to breathe & grow at its own pace. All of us at Grand Ambition know first hand what opportunities like FBSwansea allow. By funding this community project Anthem is literally facilitating hopes, dreams, ambition, talent & above all positive mental wellbeing.’
Alex Rees, Creative Learning Lead: Music and Sound for UCAN said “UCAN are delighted to receive Atsain funding. It will make a real difference to our blind and partially sighted members, as we renew our in-person music participation work following the pandemic. We will develop and share best practice guidelines and techniques, explore music technology accessibility, and deliver accredited Arts Awards.”
Tracy Pallant, Project Manager for Oasis One World Choir said ‘Funding from Atsain has allowed OOWC to develop our music making activities with children and young people seeking sanctuary. Maintaining a sense of identity when leaving a place of origin and the struggle of assimilating into a completely new culture and language can be very unsettling for our young people. ‘Hear Our Voice/One World Beats provides a safe and fun space where through music making and creative expression, children and young people can build confidence, learn new skills and make friends.’
Anthem Ambassador Huw Stephens said:
“It’s fantastic to see such a wide range of youth music organisations across Wales being supported by the Atsain Fund. Without providing opportunities for young people to get involved in music in their local areas, we won’t grow the next generation of musicians.”
Chief Executive of Anthem, Rhian Hutchings said:
“We are thrilled to be able to support organisations across Wales to deliver the much needed extracurricular activity. But we know that even more organisations need funding to connect young people to music and expand horizons, build confidence, and support mental wellbeing. We are thrilled to be able to open a third funding application round in the next few weeks and for more organisations to apply for Atsain.
CEO of Youth Music, Matt Griffiths said: “Anthem shares our goal to equalise young people’s access to music. That’s why we’re delighted to support the Atsain fund for a second year with an investment of £125,000 thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Our support will help more organisations in Wales break down the barriers young people face to make, learn and earn in music particularly in these challenging times and the cost-of-living crisis. We’re pleased to see the Atsain funded network grow in its first year, driving a cross-sector, strategic approach to achieve positive change in the grassroots music infrastructure. I look forward to our support stimulating other investors to jump on board with Anthem’s vital mission and do the same.”
The next round of applications opens on 27 February 2023 and closes on 27 March 2023. Organisations can apply up to £10,000 for 6-24 months funding. Further information about Atsain can be found at anthem.wales.
