Funding young talent UK-wide
Through our Thrive programme, we support young instrumentalists, singers, songwriters, composers and producers with funding (Awards) and other help to develop their musical potential. When you join the programme, you join a community of talented young musicians from across the UK and get free musical opportunities and advice too.
Giving musical talent a chance
Too often, finances are a barrier for many young musicians. They have the talent and the determination, but developing their musical potential can be an expensive endeavour. Our Thrive programme offers grants to young musicians whose families are on a lower income. We support them with musical opportunities based on their own circumstances and level of need, along with funding which can be used flexibly to enable them to progress on their musical journey.
Funding
We help the young musicians on the programme to decide how to use their funding to best support their musical progression. They have 12 months to spend the funds with access to musical advice and opportunities throughout the year.
If the young person is still eligible after the year, i.e. hasn't turned 18 and family financial circumstances haven't changed, then they can apply again. Below are just some of the ways our young people use their funding:
Instruments
Equipment
Lessons
Transport
Exam fees
Musical Opportunities
Young people on the programme have access to workshops, careers advice, creative projects and much more. Opportunities vary depending on various things, like where you live, what instrument or genre you play etc. Some of our opportunities are open to everyone, like our online events series.
We put on events across the UK, from Edinburgh to London featuring performances by Award winners representing a range of musical genres. Informal performance opportunities are also available through project work and our Awards days.
How to apply
Our application form is currently held on a tool called Survey Monkey Apply. We hope you'll find it easy to use. It works on any device and you don't need to download or install any apps.
The application is made up of bite-sized steps that you can work through at your own speed. Guidance is given each step of the way.
We know that sometimes online forms can be a bit frustrating! We hope ours won’t be, but if you do want some support, or you hit a technical problem - please contact us.
If our application website is a barrier to you applying, please get in touch and we'll find another way for you to send us your application.
Eligibility
Our key criteria are musical talent and financial need, meaning that young musicians can apply without needing to have taken formal exams. We support all genres and styles of music, with a diverse pool of adjudicators who make decisions on eligibility and have expertise across a wide range of genres.
Please note that we're unable to accept applications from young musicians who are already part of our Connect programme.
You can apply if
- You're aged 5 - 17
- You can apply anytime after your 5th birthday and before you 18th birthday.
- You're living and studying in the UK
- England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Island, Isle of Man, Channel Islands.
- You're an instrumentalist, composer, producer, singer or song-writer
- We value all genres and styles of music equally.
- Your family are on a lower income
- You're eligible if the total income of any parents/carers in your home is less than £30,000 a year.
- You may be eligible if it's between £30,000 - £40,000 a year.
- It's unlikely you'll be eligible if it's above £40,000 a year.
If you're not eligible we may still be able to support you! Visit the pages below to find out more.
Contact a Connector
We’ve established a network of experts across the music education sector in England. We’re calling them ‘Connectors’ and their role is to connect young people and families with musical opportunities and information.
Other funding opportunities
We’ve collated a list below of national and local opportunities to get you started. ‘Help Musicians UK’ have also done a lot of the work for you and created this fantastic Funding Wizard search engine to help you find funding.
By clicking here you will now be taken off site to Survey Monkey Apply where the application form is stored.
The Awards
Our main Awards are called Robert Lewin Scholarships. These Awards are named after the man upon whose legacy Young Sounds was founded back in 1998. We also offer a number of special named Awards each year which are funded by private individuals or in partnership with other trusts and organisations.