Belgium

Support to young Belgian musicians and disadvantaged audiences

The purchase of an instrument is often a significant financial barrier to practicing music. Music Fund actively supports organisations that set up musical courses and projects for children, teenagers and adults living in fragile socio-economic situations by donating instruments.

Some of the music projects we have supported in recent years include:

• the organisation De Rode Antraciet, which works to promote sport and culture in the prison sector in Flanders and Brussels
• the Maison Citoyenne in Durbuy/Barvaux, where the Social Cohesion Plan organises guitar lessons for people in unstable circumstances who cannot find a place in a music academy or school.
• the Red Cross Department of Assistance for Asylum Seekers (ADA Melreux/Jupille), whose aim is to develop a common and collegial approach to administrative, legal and social support, healthcare, education, training and daily activities for asylum seekers.
• Dynamo International, an open support service for children and young people aged 0 to 22. The association organises musical activities for groups of underprivileged young people in Brussels and Namur.

Violin making workshops in prison

Violin making is a craft of great precision requiring reflection, calm and patience. It allows you to invest yourself entirely in the fabrication process, but there is also an element of socialisation, if only through the interaction with a trainer. Music Fund was convinced that such learning can play a relevant role with prisoners, and between 2014 and 2018 developed various activities within the Marche-en-Famenne prison, thanks to the support of CERA and the Province of Luxembourg.

An initial donation of instruments to support the creation of a music course within the prison structure was followed by a basic repair and maintenance course for guitars (2015) and a ukulele construction workshop (2016). In 2017-2018, in response to the enthusiasm of the participants, Music Fund then organised no less than 18 training sessions in guitar making for the benefit of six inmates.

On the strength of this experience, Music Fund now wishes to extend its action beyond the prison and work towards the professional reintegration of former prisoners, by offering long-term training courses in guitar making – either within its workshops in Marche-en-Famenne or in partnership with Belgian guitar making schools and workshops.