The BIG Music Project
Thanks to the Big Lottery Fund, more than 150 young people from across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales descended London’s iconic music venue, The O2, on 17/18 February 2014 as part of BRITs Week to celebrate the launch of The Big Music Project.
Supported by artists including Plan B, MNEK, Chase & Status, and Capital's Martin Humes and Pandora, The Big Music Project (TBMP) was a £4 million initiative wholly funded by the Big Lottery Fund, and is all about music, young people, and possibilities.
This year long project, which kicked off in April, included a national music competition - The Big Music Project Competition - powered by Next BRIT Thing, alongside nationwide careers fairs, community projects through youth clubs and hundreds of work experience and internship opportunities, all fully supported online. Global, The BPI and UK Youth were lead partners of TBMP, Capital FM is the key media partner.
Running from March 2014 to February 2015, the project was led in Wales by Youth Cymru who has joined forces with the recorded music industry, Capital FM and UK Youth to create development opportunities to 14-24 year-olds across Wales.
The £3.85 million from the BIG Lottery Fund funded a series of major music events, a national talent competition, an education programme run through youth clubs and organisations and crucially the creation hundreds of work-related opportunities. The consortium brought the full weight of the music industry into play, using the power of the iconic BRITs brand, the reach of Global Radio and their Capital Brand and the grassroots networks of UK Youth to connect with millions of young people around the UK through their love of music.
A major part of the project involved setting up music hubs across the UK. Ty Cerdd, the Centre for Welsh Music, was selected as one of the hubs in Wales, and was one of just 8 organisations in the country, working with young people nationwide, in partnership with Youth Cymru. Craig wrote the bid and secured the funding for this for Ty Cerdd.
Each hub was given training, resources and support to enable 10 young people aged 16-24 (Music Champions) to run their own music projects via a peer education programme, which ensured a wider range of young people have improved access to opportunities. A percentage of the young people taking part in each hub had to be experiencing barriers to earning and learning.
Resources, featuring music taster sessions inspired by the iconic BRIT School’s Community Arts programme, supported the Champions to engage with their peers, encouraging more young people to use youth organisations and their facilities. It also supported the Champions to run local music projects, allowing Champions and others taking part to develop vital employability skills and gain accreditation, while also ensuring young people in the community shared their talent and love for music – and benefited from the wider provision on offer at the organisation.
A video teaser for the project can be found below, while additional information can be found at www.thebigmusicproject.co.uk You can also follow the project's development on twitter, instagram and facebook
News items from the project launch at the BRIT Awards 2014 can be found at the BRIT Awards website here
and the UK Youth website here
A feature on the Ty Cerdd project by leading brass website 4barsrest.com can be found here
The hashtag for the project is #BigMusic
Supported by artists including Plan B, MNEK, Chase & Status, and Capital's Martin Humes and Pandora, The Big Music Project (TBMP) was a £4 million initiative wholly funded by the Big Lottery Fund, and is all about music, young people, and possibilities.
This year long project, which kicked off in April, included a national music competition - The Big Music Project Competition - powered by Next BRIT Thing, alongside nationwide careers fairs, community projects through youth clubs and hundreds of work experience and internship opportunities, all fully supported online. Global, The BPI and UK Youth were lead partners of TBMP, Capital FM is the key media partner.
Running from March 2014 to February 2015, the project was led in Wales by Youth Cymru who has joined forces with the recorded music industry, Capital FM and UK Youth to create development opportunities to 14-24 year-olds across Wales.
The £3.85 million from the BIG Lottery Fund funded a series of major music events, a national talent competition, an education programme run through youth clubs and organisations and crucially the creation hundreds of work-related opportunities. The consortium brought the full weight of the music industry into play, using the power of the iconic BRITs brand, the reach of Global Radio and their Capital Brand and the grassroots networks of UK Youth to connect with millions of young people around the UK through their love of music.
A major part of the project involved setting up music hubs across the UK. Ty Cerdd, the Centre for Welsh Music, was selected as one of the hubs in Wales, and was one of just 8 organisations in the country, working with young people nationwide, in partnership with Youth Cymru. Craig wrote the bid and secured the funding for this for Ty Cerdd.
Each hub was given training, resources and support to enable 10 young people aged 16-24 (Music Champions) to run their own music projects via a peer education programme, which ensured a wider range of young people have improved access to opportunities. A percentage of the young people taking part in each hub had to be experiencing barriers to earning and learning.
Resources, featuring music taster sessions inspired by the iconic BRIT School’s Community Arts programme, supported the Champions to engage with their peers, encouraging more young people to use youth organisations and their facilities. It also supported the Champions to run local music projects, allowing Champions and others taking part to develop vital employability skills and gain accreditation, while also ensuring young people in the community shared their talent and love for music – and benefited from the wider provision on offer at the organisation.
A video teaser for the project can be found below, while additional information can be found at www.thebigmusicproject.co.uk You can also follow the project's development on twitter, instagram and facebook
News items from the project launch at the BRIT Awards 2014 can be found at the BRIT Awards website here
and the UK Youth website here
A feature on the Ty Cerdd project by leading brass website 4barsrest.com can be found here
The hashtag for the project is #BigMusic