The original Music Manifesto Pathfinder programmes have come to a close. But what have we learned? And how can we best put the aims of the Music Manifesto into practice across the country?
Back in November 2005, Andrew Adonis announced a government investment of £2 million over two and a half years for three Music Manifesto Pathfinders based at The Sage Gateshead, the Roundhouse in Camden and the Hallé in Manchester. The launch, at Abbey Road Studios, was also attended by David Lammy for DCMS.
The contract for The Sage Pathfinder ran from September 2005 to March 2008 and funding totalled £1 million. Contracts for The Roundhouse, and for the Hallé, known as the North West Pathfinder, ran from April 2006 to March 2008 and funding for each totalled £0.5 million.
The objective of the grant was to test-bed approaches to delivering the Music Manifesto aims across a region, which other areas could learn from. The funding was not be directed towards existing programmes or activities, or used to replace income already secured, but to demonstrate what additionality could be achieved across an area when a centre is resourced to support the music infrastructure.
In all cases grant was to be used either for the:
- Extension of an existing model into a new area or wider catchment
- Development of an existing model to a further stage of application
- Exploration and testing of a new idea linked to the Music Manifesto
- Dissemination and celebration of effective practice
Each Pathfinder had its own plan and focused on particular Music Manifesto aims and objectives. Each Pathfinder engaged Margaret Martin Griffiths to undertake an evaluation of their work and agreed that her summary report looking at the lessons learned from the Pathfinders could be shared more widely to help others working in local partnerships.
Click here to read the report