Help Musicians (formerly Musicians Benevolent Fund), is a United Kingdom charity offering help for musicians throughout their careers.

History

It was created by

Victor Beigel Victor Beigel (19 May 1870 – 7 November 1930) was an English pianist and singing teacher of Hungarian descent. Beigel was an internationally renowned vocal pedagogue. Friendships connected him with the painter John Singer Sargent, the interio ...

in 1921 as the Gervase Elwes Memorial Fund, following the death of English

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

Gervase Elwes Gervase Henry Cary-Elwes, DL (15 November 1866 – 12 January 1921), better known as Gervase Elwes, was an English tenor of great distinction, who exercised a powerful influence over the development of English music from the early 1900s up u ...

. It was renamed as the Musicians Benevolent Fund in 1926 and became a registered charity. Until his death in 1934,

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

was the fund's president. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the fund was supported by proceeds from daily concerts in the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, organized by

Myra Hess Dame Julia Myra Hess, (25 February 1890 – 25 November 1965) was an English pianist best known for her performances of the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann. Career Early life Julia Myra Hess was born on 25 February 1890 to a Jew ...

. Help Musicians UK launched Music Minds Matter in 2017, after work led by George Musgrave. This was the first 24/7 mental health helpline for musicians.

Covid-19 pandemic response

When the UK went into lockdown in March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Help Musicians launched its Coronavirus Hardship Fund to support musicians who were struggling financially due to loss of work. After distributing the first round of one-off grants to musicians facing immediate difficulties, a second fund of £2.5m was exhausted in just five days in June 2020 due to the volume of applications. Help Musicians also undertook research into how the pandemic affected musicians' mental health, finding 87% of the 700 musicians surveyed reported their mental health had deteriorated, and 24% going so far as to say they were considering leaving the profession for good due to the combined effect of the pandemic and

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

. In response to this mental health crisis, the charity announced an expansion of its Music Minds Matter service—whose flagship helpline had seen a 65% increase in calls—by setting up a national network of local support groups, and introducing targeted signposting to help musicians find the most relevant support and advice.

Purpose

It supports working musicians who are dealing with an illness, injury or accident. It gives financial grants to pay for medical treatment, specialist therapies and living costs and provides one-on-one help to those with life-changing situations. It also provides regular payments and social visits to retired musicians. Help Musicians also supports emerging and graduate musicians. The programme offers funding awards to postgraduate musicians undertaking advanced training, and also helps with short-term treatment costs for music students experiencing health problems. Amongst the awards they offer, they administer the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award (started in 1989), a £5,000 award for an emerging jazz musician or group to undertake a creative project of their choice, that will support their professional development. An annual concert in support of the fund is given in London on or near St. Cecilia's Day. In 2014, the charity spent £3.3 million in support of more than 5000 musicians.

References

External links

Help Musicians , Home
Music charities based in the United Kingdom British music industry 1921 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1921 {{UK-charity-stub