Musinc awarded Better Youth Spaces grant

Musinc has been awarded a Better Youth Spaces grant to create a professional quality rehearsal and recording space and improve wellbeing for young people.

The generous funding is welcome news for young people in Middlesbrough and means that Musinc will be able to enhance the professional experiences offered to young local musicians of all ages and abilities.

Better Youth Spaces – a £30.5m capital grants programme funded by the UK Government and administered by Social Investment Business – aims to bring fast-paced benefits to young people.

It is funding small scale-capital projects of between £5,000 and £100,000 including capital equipment, small refurbishments and other capital projects to help youth organisations to better support the young people they work with.

Musinc’s Better Youth Spaces grant of £99,547 will support emerging local musicians to establish music careers by providing a space for them to develop their skills to a professional level.

The space will be equipped with high quality equipment including guitars and keyboards, as well as a piano, drum kit and recording desk.

It will be used weekly by regular groups, including Bandjam Juniors and Seniors, with plans for it to be available to young people across the Tees Valley.

Nick Temple, CEO for Social Investment Business which leads the Better Youth Spaces fund, said:

“We are excited to be partnering with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to support youth services in priority areas in England and create ‘better youth spaces’ for young people.

“Through a combination of funding refurbishment projects and providing new equipment, it will bring opportunities for young people to participate in a whole range of enrichment activities – across sports, music and cultural activities.

“The fund will also help to expand access, create safer spaces, and make youth services more sustainable.

“This is a real boost for youth services in some of the communities which need it most, creating lasting impact for young people’s wellbeing.”

Welcoming the Better Youth Spaces grant, Musinc Manager Samantha Knight said:

“Through this grant, we are able to provide a huge upgrade to the equipment and opportunities Musinc has to offer.

“Musinc aims to boost the aspirations of young people from Middlesbrough and across the Tees Valley – this investment will make a huge difference to young people’s experiences and music making.

“We work with brilliant young musicians and are excited for them to regularly use professional quality instruments.”

Councillor Philippa Storey, Middlesbrough Council’s Executive member for Education & Culture, added:

“Music is a wonderful gift for our young people, helping them to develop lasting friendships and rewarding new skills that will stand them in good stead for life.

“This fantastic funding award will make a huge difference to countless young lives and the lives of those around them, and I can’t wait to hear the music they produce.”

For more information about Better Youth Spaces, visit their website.