Access to Music

In 2022, on my 50th birthday, we launched the Making a Difference Initaitive, the aim of which was to make music lessons accessible to disadvantaged children.

We started by running workshops in low income schools in Lagos, Nigeria during the summer of 2022, and these were very well received and proved to be very popular among the children.

We had hoped to extend the provision to term-tme but we were unable to find a time slot in the schools' calendars that matched our unavailability and so we had to reluctantly discontinue the programme.

Because we wanted to make a long term investment in children's musical development, we decided to focus on a specific demographic of children for at least one year. So, we launched a Scholarship programme in March 2023, with a view to giving children with Special Needs subsidised music lessons. This was expanded in September 2023 to Teenagers from deprived families. We started with a group of 15 children and added another 15 children in June 2024. We had strong participation from the teenagers during the summer camp of 2024.

However, as the economy worsened and the cost of travel escalated, we begin to witness a gradual decline in the numbers of children able to attend the Teen Band and Choir regularly during term time. We supported as much as we could by subsidising their travel costs but event that was not sufficient to meet their needs. By the end of the Christmas term of 2024, it became obvious that a combination of factors - transportaion costs and academic demands - meant term time attendance for teenagers from low income households was unsustainable and so we took the decision to limit the Teen Band and Choir scheme to summer holidays only.

Enter, "Access to Music". Rather than focus support on a specific demographic, we took the decision to widen the net and offer subsidised places on specific classes across all age groups, from infants to adults - so that more people can benefit. Up to 50% of lesson fees will be paid for by the Making a Difference Initiative in qualifying classes. In addition, babies aged under 2 years old can enjoy free tuition for up to six months, until their 2nd birthday.

To ensure that this helps goes to those who value it the most, there is a requirement of 75% attendance per term. Beneficiaries who do not meet this requirement will lose their grant the following term.

We hope that by widening access to broader demographic, even more children's lives will be impacted by the Making a Difference Initiative, and tha more children will benefit from The Music Advantage.

You can see which lessons qualify for the Access to Music grants on the Lesson Schedule and Fees page of our website.

Do share this opportunity with as many people as you think would benefit.

Thanks for being here.

Kunbi Osinoiki

Co Founder and CEO, KMC