Restore The Music announces Lady Ella Windsor as Patron & Awards £160k in new grants to ten schools in London, Birmingham, Manchester & Newcastle

26 March 2025 - Press release

 

Respected schools’ music charity Restore The Music (RTM) has announced Lady Ella Windsor as its Patron. Lady Ella has a lifelong love of music and takes on her Patronage to support the charity in its ‘whole child approach’ to music education. 

Lady Ella is passionate about music and its role in helping young people find their voice, commenting on her new role she said: "Music can do so much to help build confidence, imagination and social skills— all of which are, I believe, essential to learning. On a recent visit to a school served by RTM, I was dazzled by the student performances, Rachmaninoff on piano, jazz saxophone, drums and Spanish guitar. They transported us to another place - far from a school classroom. What a stunning snapshot of talent, teaching and world class instruments funded by Restore the Music. It will be such an honour to serve as Patron to this exceptional charity which creates opportunities for children to thrive through the power of music.”

Restore The Music has also announced £160,000 in grant awards to the music departments of ten state schools in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle, reaching over 8,000 pupils aged 4-18 and enabling vital access to nearly 1,000 instruments and resources.  Among the ten schools, five are in the London area: Ark John Archer Primary Academy (Wandsworth, London); City Academy Hackney (London), Trinity Academy Brixton (Lambeth, London), Ark Putney Academy (Wandsworth, London) and Gladesmore Community School (Tottenham, London),

RTM is dedicated to transforming young lives by providing targeted support to help bridge the gap in music provision at some of the most underserved state schools in four of the UK’s key cities. RTM has a targeted application process that resources music departments in UK schools where students need it most. Since inception in 2013, RTM has awarded over £2.7 million across over 160 state schools that have between 50-70% of children on free school meals.

Polly Stepan Moore, CEO and Co-Founder of Restore The Music, said: “I am delighted to welcome Lady Ella Windsor as Patron of Restore The Music. She was instrumental in RTM’s presence, with its young musicians’ performances, at the recent ‘Together At Christmas’ carol concert organised by HRH The Princess Of Wales and will be a huge asset as Patron. As a musician and lifelong music lover, Ella shares our vision that every child deserves access to a music education right through their school years so they can have the best chance to thrive through their lives. Restore the Music’s mission is to create life-changing opportunities for as many underserved children as we can reach. A well-provisioned music department can reach even the most disaffected young people and unlock their enormous potential. We are proud to announce RTM’s latest grant awards providing £160k in targeted support for primary and secondary schools in underfunded areas within London, Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle. The opportunity for music-making brings kids together and inspires mutual care and RTM’s programme helps our grantee schools build self-esteem and resilience in their  students, where previously, even attending school might have been a daily challenge.”

Latest RTM award recipients include one primary school Ark John Archer Primary Academy (Wandsworth, London); and nine secondary schools: City Academy Hackney (London), Trinity Academy Brixton (Lambeth, London), Ark Putney Academy (Wandsworth, London) Gladesmore Community School (Tottenham, London), Co-op Academy Belle Vue (Manchester), Callerton Academy Secondary (Newcastle), North Birmingham Academy (Birmingham), Ark St Albans Secondary (Birmingham), and Lordswood Boys' School (Birmingham).

RTM works collaboratively with the best minds in education, business, philanthropy and strategic development, raising funds from individuals, trusts and foundations and corporate partnerships to provide funding capital for schools. RTM reports the positive impact on its target schools; the provision of instruments has enabled music departments to engage with children across a variety of social, emotional and psychological areas, as well as improving students’ participation, school attendance and academic attainment across the board.