Hello all

Take it away, a new scheme from Arts Council England has recently launched aimed at making musical instruments more affordable, particularly for families, those buying an instrument for the first time and those on lower incomes. I thought ABRSM forum members might be interested as customers or in helping to spread the word about the scheme.

The objective of Take it away is to encourage more people to get involved in learning and playing music by removing the financial barrier that may have stopped them from doing this previously. The scheme allows individuals to apply for a loan of up to £2,000 for the purchase of any kind of musical instrument, and pay it back in nine monthly instalments (with a minimum 10% deposit), completely interest free.

Take it away loans are available through a network of over 85 musical instrument retailers across England that can provide assistance in choosing an instrument appropriate for a customer’s needs. Additionally, to help musical development and manage costs, where available equipment and services such as music stands, amplifiers, sheet music and tuition can also be included within the loan. Although the scheme only operates across stores in England at present, it is open to all UK residents over 18, and it is possible to use the scheme via mail order if there is not a participating retailer in your area.

For the scheme to be a real success, and to ensure that our target groups in particular benefit from the scheme, we need the help of individuals and other organisations to get the message out. We have a range of marketing materials available to order, free of charge.

If you would like to order a supply of posters or postcards, please contact me at philippa.staff@artscouncil.org.uk or call 020 7973 6434. Further details about the scheme and a full list of participating stores can be found at www.takeitaway.org.uk

Thanks
Philippa Staff
Officer, Take it away

Hi everyone

We've had a few people get in touch with us, concerned about advertising on the forums.

I just wanted to reassure any worried forums members that I'd invited Philippa to log onto the forums and to provide details of this scheme - as the whole aim of the venture is to make it easier and more accessible for people of all ages and means to discover music and to learn an instrument. The scheme is being run by the Arts Council England.

We hope that you will find this information useful and will pass it on to anyone that you know who is keen to learn an instrument, but who has perhaps been put off by the upfront costs involved.

If anyone still has concerns about the nature of the posting though, do get in touch with me. For those who are interested in finding out more about the scheme - Amanda has started another thread on the General Discussion forum - http://forums.abrsm.org/index.php?showtopic=24850

We've decided to keep both running in parallel.

Best wishes

Christine

Anything that encourages people to take up a musical instrument or five has to be A Good Thing...