Chris Pollock, Bass Drummer with Field Marshal Montgomery works for an organisation called ‘Fixers’ which is a movement of young people tackling issues they feel strongly about to make a difference to others. For further info please see http://www.fixers.org.uk/home/about.php. Chris would like to make you aware of an initiative that is taking place regarding the promotion of teaching of piping, drumming and drum majoring. You can read his message below.
In an age where it seems people have less and less time for leisure pursuits, involvement in piping and drumming and drum majoring across Northern Ireland remains high. Not only that but the levels of achievement across all grades and throughout the solo circuit continues to grow and now it seems, interest in piping and drumming from grassroots to government has never been higher.
In an effort to make the most of the current zeitgeist, Ross Hume, a piper with Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band is leading up a project with the UK-wide young people’s charity Fixers, seeking to further promote the teaching of piping and drumming through challenging both the Department of Culture Arts & Leisure and the Department of Education to provide opportunities for teaching within mainstream education (such as occurs for brass, string, woodwind instruments).
A short documentary film is currently in production, featuring young people learning to play pipes and drums as well as interviews with a number of school principals and music teachers from around the country airing their views on the need for piping and drumming to be taught in schools. The finished documentary will be available for any young person, aged between 16 – 25, who signs up to the fix to use (Over 40 young people have signed up already). One such use will be for individuals or groups of young people to make contact with the schools (both primary and post-primary) in their area to deliver taster session (including showing the documentary) and then record expressions of interest from pupils and staff alike in respect of potential in-school tuition. The names collected during this process will then be presented, along with the documentary, to Ministers from both departments later in the year by Ross, a number of other fixers and representatives from supporting organisations such as the RSPBA NI Branch School, in the hope that the momentum generated will result in parity for the pipe and drum alongside the instruments traditionally taught in schools. There is also the potential that UTV Live will select this fix for one of their monthly broadcasts.
For further information on Fixers generally, check out the website – www.fixers.org.uk
