Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is to receive a grant of £300,000 towards its community music programme.
The funding, to be spread over the next three years, comes from the Garfield Weston Foundation, which supports charities involved in welfare, youth, community, environment, education, health, arts, heritage and faith.
BSO Participate is the umbrella for the Orchestra’s community outreach work. Its wide range of activities across the south-west includes working with families and under 5s; in schools and with 5- to 18-year-olds; in hospitals, and care and residential homes; community orchestras and choirs; and training weekends for young music leaders. Last year, the Orchestra created over 47,000 opportunities for people of all ages to experience live music-making.
In 2024, BSO launched a pilot programme with Dorset County Hospital and Arts in Hospital with weekly music-making workshops tailored for patients and staff in its dementia, stroke and children’s wards. This year, the programme will expand across other Dorset HealthCare sites, in Poole and Sherborne.
With the support of the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Orchestra plans to work with other key NHS trusts in the region over the next three years, providing year-round support to benefit an estimated 200 nurses and 1,180 patients and their families.
Also last year, 35,902 children and young people participated in the Orchestra’s music education projects in 66 locations. The Foundation’s funding will help it to deepen access to its music education projects, with more chamber-scale concerts for Key Stage 1 pupils in South Somerset, as well as concerts in SEND schools in Bristol, Dorset and Hampshire.
In 2022 the BSO launched its Young Associates programme for aspiring community music leaders traditionally underrepresented in the arts workforce. Planned creative training weekends will involve an estimated 60 young people over the three-year period.
BSO Chief Executive Dougie Scarfe OBE DL said: ‘This grant is a game-changer for us – we are deeply grateful to the Garfield Weston Foundation, whose support allows us to make a lasting and meaningful impact in schools, hospitals and communities across the south-west. As a charity, we rely on ongoing support to keep these vital programmes running – and we invite other funders to join us in transforming lives through the power of music. We know that our creative wellbeing and music education programmes make a difference to people’s lives, and with challenges facing people of all ages we’re certain the positive impacts of this work will be felt deeply.’
