Ed Sheeran has announced the launch of the Ed Sheeran Foundation, in a bid to bring a meaningful music education to all children.
The foundation will help children learn how to play instruments, as well as production, songwriting and performance skills through instrument libraries, studio and practice space, music lessons, and mentorship programs and music workshops.
In a video posted to Instagram (see below), the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter said that music education gives him a personal "sense of purpose, a sense of achievement."
In the caption, Sheeran explained that he set up the foundation "because recently there’s been less and less importance being put on music education. Even when I was in school it was seen as a ‘doss subject’ and not taken seriously. There’s a misconception that it’s ’not a real job’ - when the music industry accounts for 216,000 jobs in so many different fields, and bringing as much as £7.6 billion in a year to the UK economy."
He added that music has allowed him to reach a point where he employs 150 people on tour "who all have different skill sets, there’s also labels, management, publishing, promoters. Music is such a key part of our society. The more I do travelling around and visiting schools and grass roots projects, the more I see there’s passion and inspiring people, who are being undervalued and underserved."
"I’m hoping this foundation is a start to giving them the support they need to keep going, and show them they are hugely important to us," he concluded.
Hear about Ed Sheeran's rise to fame and how his music education got him to where he is now in our episode of Encore, x Marks the Hit: The True Story of Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud'.