Member Article

Sunderland music development business wins Lloyds Bank funding

Music development business Monumental Music CIC, based at The Bunker, Sunderland has won £2000 of funding from the Lloyds Bank Community Fund Campaign.

The money will allow the organisation to provide ongoing community focused projects, whilst continuing to extend its reach to wider communities in Sunderland and beyond.

The Bunker has become an integral part of Sunderland’s cultural landscape over the past 30 years and, after placing 2nd in the prestigious initiative, the Community Interest Company plans to use the money to develop and implement an exciting campaign, which will allow the team to continue their outreach work whilst forging new relationships with key organisations.

Driven by The Bunker’s creative apprentices and community team, the campaign will allow Monumental Music CIC to provide increased access to professional and affordable music services and facilities – reinforcing its commitment to uniting North East communities through music events and workshops.

The Lloyds Bank Community Fund Campaign aims to help communities to thrive by giving organisations the opportunity to win up to £3000.

Having been shortlisted for the highly acclaimed award from over 1,400 causes in 350 communities, the team’s success is testament to their invaluable work as well as the inventive campaign that they put together in a bid to win people’s votes.

Featuring promotional videos outlining what The Bunker does on a daily basis, unexpected games of musical statues in public places and even a free gig at Independent for those who showed proof of their vote – the campaign’s forward thinking approach helped to secure the public’s support.

Over the years, The Bunker has continued to successfully run a number of outreach projects with groups such as young careers, refugees and asylum seekers, recovering drug and alcohol addicts, and older people through Age UK.

This recent accolade demonstrates how much the community values the work of Monumental Music CIC.

As the city continues to evolve as a vibrant and lively hub of creative activity, The Bunker is set to remain a key and valued organisation that is at the forefront of increasing engagement and opportunities in music across the city.

Community Event Organiser at The Bunker, Hannah Matterson, said: “We are a small organisation but have big ambitions and lots of projects on the go.

“This kind of money will make a huge difference to the work we can do, as it will allow us to buy new equipment, pay staff and continue to work in local communities.

“We’re extremely pleased with the result and, although we didn’t win, we know that this amount of money will go along way to support our staff and ongoing projects.

“We’d like to thank everyone who voted for us and we hope that they enjoy taking part in or seeing some of the activity that comes from it.”

“Although The Bunker has always been a place to nurture talent and has a strong focus on local music, we are immensely proud of the work we do with and for other organisations.

“Knowing that so many people from the local area voted for us to win this money is a great confidence boost and we really appreciate the support that people have shown us.

“Without the backing of local communities, we wouldn’t be able to do the work we do.”

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