Ed Sheeran donates nearly 1m to help kids with music

msn.com:

Ed Sheeran is giving away nearly £1 million to help children learn music. The 31-year-old singer has donated almost £500,000 over the past five years via his Framlingham Foundation Trust, and the charitable initiative - which trades under the name Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation, or ESSMF - has a similar sum earmarked for youngsters looking for funding for instruments, concerts, and rehearsal spaces, accounts have shown.

A source told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “Ed has never forgotten his struggle to reach the top and the impact music made on his life.

It is fantastic he’s helping in this way. ” Ed's funding has also paid for equipment in the music department of his and wife Cherry's old school, Thomas Mills School in Framlingham, Suffolk, with the establishment receiving £30,000 for the purpose.

The school's director of music, Richard Hanley, praised the support of the 'Lego House' hitmaker. He said: “At a time when music and the arts are under pressure and under threat in schools, it is so comforting to know students at this school have a source of support that enables access and equality of opportunity to all. “It sends a clear message that music and the arts are an essential element of broad and balanced education as well as being an essential part of the human experience. ” Another school in the 'Shape of You' singer's home town, St.