Welcome to Music Broth: Scotland’s first musical instrument and equipment library
At Music Broth, we believe that everyone should have easy and equitable access to musical instruments and equipment. We support individuals, bands and organisations to pursue their musical ventures. This includes loaning out instruments, offering instrument repairs, creating workshops and supporting events.
After opening our library doors in Govanhill, Glasgow, in Sept 2018 we have had a growing number of instruments kindly donated and members joining. We have created this Hardship Fund to maintain and repair instruments and support music access for community members who otherwise couldn’t afford - through sponsored annual memberships to the library or funded places in music workshops.
We’d like your help to grow our Hardship Fund before Christmas, to ensure that in the New Year, we can make a quick start on repairing some of our instruments in need, getting them out to community members and creating music workshops.
What We Need & What You Get
Our initial goal for our Hardship Fund is £3,500. Depending on donations, this could support:
- 50 instrument repairs - care and restoration of our quality donated instruments
- 30 library memberships - annual access to any musical instruments in our library
- 25 workshop spaces - music and instrument education and repair workshops starting in the new year
Most of our perks allow you to sponsor community participation with Music Broth – whether it’s for people you know or by paying-forward our services for others. Maybe your niece isn’t sure if she wants to learn the guitar or the violin - you could sponsor an annual library membership for her so she can try both. Or, perhaps you have no idea what to buy your musical pal for Christmas, as they’ve already hoarded enough instruments – you could sponsor a music workshop for a community group on their behalf (and, ask them kindly to donate any of their unused instruments to us!).
As well as knowing the impact of your chosen donation, you’ll receive a combination of the following:
- Thank you email
- Christmas Card with a custom Music Broth plectrum
- Music Broth tote bag
- Music Broth t-shirt
- Invitation to our donors event
- This celebratory event will be held in February at the library, and will involve live music, food and drink, and a chance to tour our library and see the impact you've made
The Impact
Our Music Broth Musical Instrument and Equipment Library is the first of it's kind in the UK. Library Founder and Co-Founder Felix Slavin and Jen O'Brien are musicians themselves and recognise the great benefit playing instruments and being involved in music can have on individual happiness, self-confidence and mental health. We strongly feel everybody should have the opportunity to at least try an instrument regardless of social or economic situation. We're also keen on preserving our planet's resources so keeping instruments and equipment in good use by many people is better than instruments gathering dust and new learners being put off by having to make new purchases.
The wonderful Glasgow community have already donated over 400 instruments to our fledgling library established in 2017. We want to make best use of these and get them out to as many library members as possible. We are already supporting lots of people with instruments they otherwise would be unable to access, through:
- Partnerships with local organisations; such as Youth Community Support Agency where we are helping a group of 10 young asylum seekers to take instruments home with them while they take part in music workshops and Girls Rock Glasgow Summer Rock School which has 40 young people learning instruments and forming bands.
- Helping parents and carers access instruments for their children in an affordable way - and if they drop guitar after 2 months they can always try ukulele or trombone instead! ;-)
- Bands in the music scene - helping to make gigs happen through providing backline and transportation, and showcasing exciting new music.
- Supporting music tutors to make lessons more accessible and more effective through our library of instruments being available to learners both during the workshops and to take home; such as Wevolution guitar and ukulele lessons in Glasgow's east end.
Your contribution will help us do more of this great work and help us reach more people.
Risks & Challenges
In the event that we achieve less than our target the funds raised will still be used to repair instruments, support library memberships and workshops places - just fewer than we'd hoped!
We're an entirely voluntary run social enterprise so we'll continue to dedicate our time to sustaining and growing our library, and seek further support through fundraising and paid for services.
Other Ways You Can Help
New Music Broth advocates and volunteers are always welcome:
- Spread the word - we want to be the loudest library in Scotland so give us a shout out through the social media links below!
- Contact us if you have time, expertise or musical instruments or equipment to share
- Support us through using our library for equipment for your next gig or event e.g. PA hire
- Join our library, or join our mailing list
Contact us
Photography by Ingrid
