A flagship community education programme for disadvantaged children in Aberdeen faces the axe after city councillors pulled the plug on funding.
Big Noise Torry organizers said they were “shocked and heartbroken” that the team’s hard work and dedication had been “undermined” by the council.
The project provides free music tuition, as well as an orchestra programme, to more than 750 pupils and pre-school children in Torry’s Walker Road and Tullos Primaries.
It is one of Sistema Scotland’s four schemes in the country, which give youngsters living in underprivileged areas the chance to learn an instrument.
Figures, including Dame Evelyn Glennie, had raised concerns about the impact the council scrapping its funding would have.
Now those fears have become very real indeed, as the council today voted through a budget which includes plans to scrap the project’s funding.
Protestors bang the drum for Big Noise Torry
Wednesday’s budget meeting saw protestors outside Aberdeen’s Town House banging the drum for Big Noise Torry’s future.
Inside council chambers, Torry SNP councillor Lee Fairfull said she sympathised with Big Noise Torry’s plight.
However, she said the council “could not be reassured of its vision for the future.”
She added that its “outcomes are not what we would have hoped for given the level of funding.”
Fellow Torry SNP councillor Christian Allard questioned the long-term sustainability of the project given the current economic situation.
He added: “Even if we had the money, we wouldn’t do it anyway.”
‘An absolutely huge blow’
Nicola Killean is CEO of Sistema Scotland. She told The Press and Journal she was “shocked and heartbroken” by the council’s decision to axe funding.
“Children and young people in Torry are going to be heartbroken by this,” she said.
“They’ve been speaking out about the impact of this, and they feel like they’ve not been heard.”
She continued: “In terms of where we’re at in Big Noise Torry’s journey, we’re delivering clearly on confidence, wellbeing, and increasing educational skills.
“There’s an independent evaluation report that backs that up as well.
“So we’re hugely disappointed for local councillors to have misrepresented the evidence that’s there around the work of Big Noise Torry.
“Our vision is very clear. We intend to be there long-term for the children and young people in the community until they grow up and become part of multi-generational change.
“We have confidence that that is working and that we’re on track with that.
“It’s an absolutely huge blow for us as an organization. Not just to lose the funding, but to lose the confidence of some of those key local councillors.
“We will be responding directly to them in time to ensure they have the information they need.”
Big Noise Torry vows to fight on
So is this the end of Big Noise Torry?
Not if Nicola and her team have anything to do with it.
“We, as a charity, made a commitment to the Torry community that we would be there long-term.
“And we have no intention of letting that community down.
“We believe the community wants us to be there. So we’ll be doing everything we can to ensure that we’re still there, and that we’re still a part of the Torry community.
“We have a huge amount of fundraising to do now.”
Issue makes Big Noise at Holyrood
The issue even caused a stir at the Scottish Parliament today, as north-east MSP Douglas Lumsden and culture minister Neil Gray went head-to-head.
Mr Lumsden said he was “disgusted” at Aberdeen City Council’s decision to axe the project’s funding.
He asked whether the culture minister would now intervene and find a way to save Big Noise Torry.
Mr Gray replied that this is an issue for local authorities to determine.
“I don’t think it is for MSPs or government ministers to intervene on local government issues, a general principle most of us generally subscribe to,” he said.
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