Hampshire County Council’s Music Education has been awarded £2.3 million by Arts Council England as part of a major national investment in high quality music provision for children and young people.

The funding will see Hampshire’s Music Service become the lead organisation in a hub of local partners including schools, community groups, music organisations, industry representatives and others, all working together to deliver and support music education across Hampshire. This will be one of 43 such ‘Music Hubs’ working nationally to inspire a love of music.

Of the funding received, £1.7million will support the Music Service to continue providing music education across Hampshire, while £600,000 will be used to invest in musical instruments, equipment and technology to further develop learning opportunities for children and young people.

Councillor Steve Forster, the County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, said: “Our Music Service supports thousands of children each year to discover the many wide-ranging benefits that music education brings, including to their social, physical and emotional wellbeing. We fully welcome this funding from Arts Council England which will enable us and our partners to further build on our already excellent provision, and to ensure that children of all backgrounds can continue to benefit from high quality musical opportunities.

“To be selected to lead a Music Hub here in Hampshire is a great privilege and we are committed to making this a success, working with our partners to engage and empower our next generation of musicians to excel.”

Hampshire Music Service is one of the largest services of its kind in the country, providing music education to children and young people across Hampshire schools and colleges. Its team of dedicated music educators works collaboratively with partners, and representatives of the arts and creative industries to offer an inclusive and increasingly diverse range of innovative music provision and learning programmes. All are designed to foster a love of music and nurture the talents of young musicians, while enabling more experienced musicians to excel.

For more information, visit https://hantsmusichub.org.uk