Editors' Note: Live Music Now (LMN)
LMN plays an integral part in promoting the wellbeing of people in diverse communities throughout the UK. As the largest provider of live music sessions in a wide variety of community, healthcare and educational settings, it brings crucial benefits to those experiencing difficult times or with restricted access.
Specially trained young professional musicians work with older people, children with special needs, young people in challenging circumstances, adults with learning difficulties, hospital and hospice patients, people suffering from poor mental health, prisoners and young offenders. In addition, through a range of innovative projects, LMN has demonstrated how music can support people in numerous other ways, for instance, helping toddlers to begin to read through participating in live music and sending musicians to the remotest parts of the British Isles to bring live music to isolated communities.
LMN is pivotal in keeping live music performance alive and well in this country. It offers employment opportunities to hundreds of musicians each year, who are just beginning their careers, and are from all musical genres and cultures. Through LMN they are inspired to stay in the industry, practise their art, develop as music leaders and bring happiness to thousands of people.
The recipients themselves comment time and time again on the tangible results gained from an LMN workshop or participatory performance. Evaluation demonstrates how live music has touched people: helping to bring back memories, give confidence, promote wellbeing and stimulate social and intellectual engagement, for those with the severest communication and emotional problems such as children with autism or people in mental distress.
Incredibly, LMN has been achieving these benefits for over 30 years and has grown to serve the U.K. as well as developing active international links. Today, the charity aims to reach more than 200,000 people annually and is the U.K.'s largest outreach organisation. It is chaired by Ian Stoutzker, who is also the charity's co-founder, along with the violinist Yehudi Menuhin, and is run by Sarah Derbyshire, Executive Director.
The annual running costs of the organisation are £1.3 m and it relies on trusts, foundations, private donations, corporate sponsorship and public funding bodies in order to maintain and develop its work.
Registered Charity No: 273596 (England and Wales), SC039600 (Scotland)