Ed Sheeran launches foundation to support music education in the UK: “Music education has shaped who I am”

nme.com:

Ed Sheeran has launched a new foundation to support music education in the UK, stressing how important it was to his early career.The Ed Sheeran Foundation will aim to provide inclusive, high-quality music education for children around the country, with a particular focus on areas where it is currently less accessible.The initiative will seek to address educational inequality in the UK, noting that a 2019 BPI survey found that one in four schools that serve disadvantaged communities currently offer no music lessons at all.Sheeran is marking the launch of the foundation by visiting schools in Cardiff, Coventry, Edinburgh and Belfast.“Music education has shaped who I am,” he has said. “I’ve always enjoyed playing music, and it’s led to some of the best moments of my life.”The foundation will work alongside the likes of grassroots organisations such as Coventry Alternative Provision Academy and Sound Progression in Cardiff.