Ed Sheeran Launches A Foundation To Support Music Education In The UK

Ed Sheran has always been vocal about the importance of music education in youth. It was also one of the monumental things that shaped his life as a successful musician. That is not all. The singer has also voiced how music has helped him sort his feelings when he was young which paved the way for him to become one of the most successful singers and songwriters of this generation. Now, the ‘Shape Of You’ singer is giving back to society with a special announcement made on Thursday morning, January 9th. The singer has launched the Ed Sheeran Foundation to support music education in the UK.

In an Instagram post announcing the foundation, the singer explained, “I set up @edsheeranfnd because recently there’s been less and less importance being put on music education. Even when I was in school it was seen as a ‘doss subject’ and not taken seriously. There’s a misconception that it’s ’not a real job’ – when the music industry accounts for 216,000 jobs in so many different fields, and bringing as much as £7.6 billion($9.3 billion dollars) in a year to the UK economy.” He added, “Not to mention the power our art has worldwide to bring joy to people. It’s something we should be proud of and championing in the UK, not sweeping under the rug and pretending we are just bankers (no offence to bankers obvz). It was incredible for my mental health as a kid, feeling a sense of purpose and achievement, even just learning piano or cello at a young age way before songwriting.”

The Grammy-winning singer said the goal of the foundation is to help children learn to play instruments. At the same time, the institute will help the kids learn production, songwriting, and performance skills. There will also be apprenticeship schemes that will teach the children about different skills that could help them enter the music industry. Sheeran said this operation employs 150 people on tour who all have different skill sets. This is in addition to those people who already work at his label, publishing, promotions, and management.

“Music is such a key part of our society,” the ‘Perfect’ singer wrote. “The more I do traveling around and visiting schools and grassroots projects, the more I see there’s passion and inspiring people, who are being undervalued and underserved. I’m hoping this foundation is a start to giving them the support they need to keep going, and show them they are hugely important to us.”

The singer also launched the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation back in 2019, an institution that aims at providing young people under 18 in the Suffolk region of England with modest yet valuable grants to support their studies or musical activities. In the video announcing his latest charitable project, Sheeran shared that music education “shaped who I am” and has provided him with a sense of purpose and accomplishment since childhood. He mentioned attending a state-funded school where a supportive teacher helped him gain the confidence to perform on stage. Sheeran explained that the idea for his foundation came after having tea with an old music teacher, who shared concerns about the poor condition of music education. “Venues are getting shut down and there are organizations that do out-of-school music clubs that are getting shut down and I think the foundation’s key is to help those organizations carry on because they are struggling,” the singer said in the video.

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