Helping to create equal access to music education

The Piano Equals scheme by Millers Music is a sustainable initiative designed to improve accessibility to music education and instruments in schools, by repairing donated pianos and providing them to schools at a low cost. Simon Pollard, Managing Director, shares more about why Piano Equals was created and how the scheme works.

Music education is currently in a state of crisis. Presenting the facts plainly, equal access to music is declining at a rapid rate and the system that provides music education is unable to reach all the children it is designed to support.

A drastic decline in investment in music education over the last decade has pushed school music departments to breaking point, and some to outright extinction. Just 12% of schools in the most deprived areas offer music provision, and a further 20% of primary schools in the UK don’t offer regular music lessons.

To help ensure that every child in every community has access to music, change is desperately needed. The last few years have shown that music, an artform that generates £116bn to the UK economy, is not recognised for the tremendous power that it possesses. Not only is music a crucial part of a balanced and rounded education, but it is vital for a child’s development as it provides opportunities to express themselves and explore creativity.

Through our flagship sustainability programme, Piano Equals, we want to bring back sustainable practices in the music industry, as well as help schools address the difficulties they face in offering music as a regular lesson or activity to ensure that music is for every child in every school. To support schools and groups through this drastically increasing inequality gap, we knew that we had to do something as an organisation. This is how Piano Equals was created; to be a genuinely sustainable, affordable initiative that recycles unwanted or repaired musical instruments and donates them to schools that need support to bolster their music programmes.

Typically, musical instruments have been inherently sustainable due to the ease of which they’re repaired. However, in recent years, the need for cost-effective options has exposed schools to the mass production of musical instruments, and by their very nature, are harder to repair which creates waste and makes musical instruments less sustainable. Not only does waste contribute to instruments being less sustainable than ever before, but the mass production all over the world means these instruments are travelling farther and farther distances to reach classrooms – which carries a depressing environmental cost.

By launching Piano Equals, we want to give schools a cost-effective, environmentally conscious option to access quality musical instruments which will be used to empower and inspire their students for years to come.

Throughout our time working with schools and groups to support their musical education programmes, the feedback we’ve received has been as encouraging as they have been heart-warming.

One of the very first organisations to benefit from our Piano Equals initiative was the Cambridge Acorn Project, a therapeutic service provider for children and families. Deputy CEO, Hannah Chapman, said:

“Access to enrichment such as playing a musical instrument is really important for children’s positive outcomes as they grow up, and for those living in financial hardship it is often more difficult to access these enrichment activities. Thanks to Piano Equals we are able to remove these barriers to music, which can lead to positive outcomes in children including increased self-confidence, improved mastery and good mental health.”

While we work with different types of organisations which use music to support those they work with, we primarily work with schools, in some cases all over the country, to level up their musical education.

Jez Brewer, Head of Performing Arts at Bottisham Village College, said:

“Piano Equals has been fantastic for us as we know the pianos will be in good condition and provide our young people with a high-quality musical experience. It’s also reassuring to know the whole process is sustainable and prevents waste that would otherwise go to landfill. The donated pianos were used from the day they arrived and have been played every day since.”

Does your school need a piano?

Primary and secondary schools across the UK can apply for a piano donation by submitting an enquiry to Piano Equals. Millers Music will assess the needs of each application before matching schools with a repaired instrument and overseeing the piano tuning and delivery. If your school is interested in applying for a donation, please visit: https://millersmusic.co.uk/pianoequals

Written by Simon Pollard, Managing Director at Millers Music

Don’t forget to visit the This Is Not A Rehearsal webpage to explore more news, training & events, resources and research to support you on your sustainability journey. If you’d like to stay up to date with training and resources related to the climate crisis within the music education sector, click here to sign up for our ‘This Is Not A Rehearsal’ monthly newsletter.