Following the election on 4 July and a brand new government in Westminster, Making Music is focussing back on its two main current campaigns.
This summer is an ideal time to speak to new MPs about your music group, and what you need to flourish. During the parliamentary recess in August and early September, MPs will be in your community, listening to their constituents about what is important to them. This may therefore be a good moment to write to that new or re-elected MP, invite them to your events, and let them know about your group.
Making Music put together two key asks on behalf of members before the election - these still stand now. These are asks that have come from members, that we know will make a big difference to leisure time music, and that decision-makers at local and government level can do something about. Use them if relevant in your area, adapt them as necessary.
They come in two versions - a PDF you can use to print flyers and posters, and a PNG image to include in social media posts and newsletters.
DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE FLYER (PDF)
Advocacy asks
Making Music is the UK’s membership organisation for leisure-time music with around 4,000 member groups, representing over 230,000 music-makers across the UK.
#MakeSpaceForMusic
Leisure-time music groups positively impact the health and prosperity of their communities. To do this, we need affordable and accessible community spaces. But it is now harder for us to find spaces to sing and play music. High utility costs, local authority budget constraints, church closures and heavier regulation are factors threatening the spaces we use for learning, creating and rehearsing. We ask that our representatives take action to protect the existing infrastructure of community spaces that enable a huge and successful music making culture across the UK.
For more information on this campaign, including data, a briefing and downloadable fliers - check out our campaign page.
Add 'voice' to Orchestra Tax Relief
Our members benefit from creative tax reliefs for orchestras and theatre. Last year over £400,000 of Orchestra Tax Relief was paid out to members, and we welcome the recently announced permanent 45% rate. However, choirs and vocal groups are not eligible to claim and don’t benefit from this investment in their growth and development. We ask that Treasury extend the eligibility criteria for Orchestra Tax Relief to include 'voice' as an instrument, so choirs can claim this benefit, too.
For more information on this campaign, including a proposal signed by over 35 supporting organisations - check out our campaign page.
What did parties promising for leisure-time music?
Most parties published manifestos, the document that sets out the policies they would deliver if they won the general election. We read through them and extracted pledges that would directly impact on leisure-time music making; pledges on arts and culture, community leisure activity, arts and health and music education. Read the extracted pledges and find links to all the manifestos below. These are still relevant post-election - they are the promises we want to hold our elected representatives to over the next five years.
