BRIT Award-winning musician Sam Fender has donated £50,000 to Youth Music through ticket donations from his recent 'People Watching Tour'.

Earlier in his career, Fender was supported by Generator, a North East project funded by Youth Music.

The money will be match funded through our 'Rescue the Roots' campaign - a £2 million fundraising drive to protect the future of grassroots youth music projects across the UK. And the total sum, £100,000, will be go directly to music projects reaching young people in the North East. Youth Music already invests £866,000 each year in grassroots youth projects and emerging talent across the North East, supporting 23 organisations and individuals.

The investment tackles persistent regional inequalities highlighted in our Sound of the Next Generation (SONG) report: only half (52%) of young people in the north of England see themselves as musical in comparison to 62% of people in the south.

The findings point to ongoing structural barriers outside of London, including fewer local industry connections, less access to decision-makers, and limited opportunities to perform and progress.