Funding refusal strikes bum note with Scots Music Group

Published on Monday 12 May 2008 10:44

AN award-winning traditional music group based in the Capital says its work is under threat after losing out on £60,000 funding from the Scottish Arts Council.

The grassroots Scots Music Group was set up in 1990 to promote and maintain Scotland's traditional musical heritage.

The organisation, run by volunteers, hires professional musicians to teach music and dance across the community.

The group has grown from a small venture, run by a handful of volunteers, to its present position at the heart of traditional music in the Capital with more than 500 members and 1500 enrolments this year.

The organisation was formally recognised for its work at the prestigious Scots Traditional Music Awards held in Fort William, winning the Community Project of the Year prize for 2007.

The group has received substantial financial support from the Scottish Arts Council since 1992. However, this year's application for funding has been rejected.

The 60,000 is a third of the group's budgeted income for the year. Supporters described the loss as a big blow.

David Leslie, Scots Music Group's treasurer, said: "The news has come as a huge shock to us. It's not just the running of classes and teaching of individuals that we are involved in. The group is more about the building of communities through the music and getting people involved. All that work is now in jeopardy."

The Scots Music Group was founded by the Edinburgh Council Learning Project, and has close ties with the Adult Learning Project.

Stan Reeves, community education worker of the Adult Learning Project, said: "Losing the Scots Music Group would be a huge loss to Scottish people. It is vital that people continue to be educated about their heritage, and the Scots Music Group are absolutely central to that endeavour. It is the core of a whole network of traditional music in Edinburgh and beyond."

A spokesperson for the Scottish Arts Council said: "The Scots Music Group's application was assessed against a set of flexible funding criteria and was not successful in an extremely competitive process. We received 106 applications totalling just over 14million with a total available budget of 6,980,000. In this context the Scots Music Group was not recommended for support."

Karen Whitefield, Labour MSP and convenor of the education, lifelong learning and culture committee, said: "I am very concerned by this decision. The Scots Music Group is an award-winning initiative. "

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "All decisions involving artistic judgement are a matter for the Scottish Arts Council and, in future, Creative Scotland. The Scottish Arts Council faced a challenge, with applications seeking more than double the funds available, and certain people and groups are of course disappointed at not being successful. The Scottish Government, however, is committed to supporting a culturally vibrant and successful Scotland."

The group is now planning to appeal against the decision.