Instrument Swap Scheme & Instrument Purchase Programme
Instrument Swap and Purchase
October 2001

Youth Music announced a £2 million funding programme to help more young people gain access to musical instruments
Youth Music announced a £2 million funding programme with two innovative schemes: the Instrument Swap Scheme & Instrument Purchase Programme to help more young people gain access to musical instruments.

The Instrument Swap Scheme enabled each music service in England to mend broken instruments with a repair grant of up to £10,000. In return for funding the repairs, some of the fixes instruments were donated to an online swap shop where music services traded their surplus instruments for others they were in need of.

The Instrument Purchase Programme aided community music organisations to purchase the instruments they were in need of. Grants of up to £1000 were made available to buy new or second-hand instruments.

  • 4,224 instruments were repaired for music services through the Instrument Swap Scheme
  • 2,661 instruments were purchased for community organisations through the Instrument Purchase Programme
  • 6,885 instruments were brought back into play, delivering £2 million of Lottery money for children and young people
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"These two Youth Music schemes are really benefitting those involved and will ensure that music education is more universally available to children and young people in England."

The late Michael Kamen, Film Composer

Priority Areas

Early Years

Ensuring that every child under 5 has access to music-making opportunities.

Singing

Working with partners to ensure that children and young people in the UK have access to high quality singing opportunities.

Transition

Improving opportunities for children to continue with their music making after they move to secondary school.

At Risk

Establishing music making as a medium for benefiting children and young people deemed to be at risk*

Workforce Development

Improving the quality and quantity of music leadership in order to deliver better music-making opportunities for children and young people.