Musical Boroughs Trust

Musical Boroughs Trust, also known as Tri-borough Music Trust, is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation established in 2019 to safeguard and expand transformative music education for disadvantaged children, young people, and communities in London's Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, and Westminster boroughs. Born from the Tri-borough Music Hub's expertise amid public funding cuts, its mission is to remove financial barriers, fostering joyful musical experiences that build identity, skills, self-worth, and social mobility while championing inclusivity, diversity, and community cohesion. It emphasises music as a right, not a privilege, targeting deprivation hotspots, social housing areas, and those facing inequality, hardship, poor health, or unemployment.

The Trust funds music education initiatives like whole-class instrumental learning, choirs, ensembles, community events, subsidised lessons, bursaries for extracurricular access, and resources for schools lacking provision—especially state schools, SEN settings, and alternative providers. Support extends to wider community participation but prioritises disadvantaged youth, delivered via strategic Hub partnerships to boost access, standards, and personal/social development.

Eligible applicants are UK-registered charities, community groups, or academic institutions based in and benefiting the three boroughs, with a preference for local schools and grassroots providers serving vulnerable groups; no strict income thresholds apply. Funding is invite-only, with no open applications, deadlines, or published guidelines—decisions occur ad hoc through trustee meetings and pre-selected collaborations. Grant sizes and types (project funding, bursaries, resources) are unspecified but modest, focused on targeted interventions; core or unrestricted support is unavailable.

Distinctively hyper-local and Hub-aligned, it rejects socio-economic barriers and unsolicited bids, differentiating itself by wielding music as a precise tool for equity in high-deprivation pockets, without religious restrictions.