2026 Free

Impact Report 2025-26

Music of Life's Impact Report 2025-26, shared 14 October 2026, marks a sixth consecutive record year: 1,851 disabled children and young people supported free of charge, 82% on Pupil Premium, with expansion into Brent reaching 120 children across 3 special schools in its first year.

Report snapshot
40 Views

About

A charity providing free specialist music education to disabled children and young people in schools and communities

Key Metrics

Disabled children supported 1,851 disabled children and young people too often excluded from music supported in 2025-26, free to every family
Participant profile 82% on Pupil Premium; 68% have learning disabilities including profound and multiple; 58% autistic; 58% from global majority communities
Children reached in Brent 120 children reached in the first year in Brent across 3 special schools with 6 weekly groups since September 2025

Key Outcomes

  • Sixth consecutive record year supporting disabled children and young people through music education
  • Children built confidence, communication and musical skills through specialist teaching using Makaton, BSL and inclusive methods
  • Young musicians performed publicly, including one of 14 young people chosen for the Speakers Trust My Maiden Speech programme

Geography

UK-Wide

Impact Snapshot
568,000
babies reached by Bookstart Baby in 2025/26 (93% of all babies born)
Over 1.1 million
children and families engaged with Bookstart programmes in 2025/26
80%
of parents and carers receiving Bookstart Baby say they now read or share books and stories more with their child
445,600 children aged 1-4 reached through Bookstart Toddler and Pre-schooler, including 37% of all 1-4-year-olds living in low-income households
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
440,000+ young people aged 4-18 active members across 7,000 Groups
Key Metric 2
140,000 volunteers supporting the movement across the UK
Key Metric 3
373 Sections opened or re-energised in England between April 2024 and March 2025
0.3% overall growth in young people (ages 4-18), driven by 31% increase in Squirrel Scouts (5,200 young people)
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
55,000 foster carers and 370 fostering service providers as members across the UK
Key Metric 2
45 new Fostering Friendly Employers recruited, bringing the scheme to over 680,000 employees across the UK
Key Metric 3
95 Fostering Wellbeing Pioneers in Wales offering peer support and mentoring to fellow foster carers
191 children and young people engaged in outdoor adventure weeks through the Fostering Attainment and Achievement programme in Northern Ireland
Impact Snapshot
Young people sailing
1,224 young people sailed in 2025/26 out of 1,889 individuals reached, an 11% increase, delivering 4,716 nights at sea.
Bursary support
85% of the young people who sailed received financial bursary support; 77% had never sailed before and 21% identify as belonging to the Global...
Qualifications earned
776 nationally recognised qualifications earned, including 630 RYA Start Yachting and 126 RYA Competent Crew awards.
Young people unlocked their potential through ocean voyages, with 204 recommended to return as volunteers, a direct pathway into blue economy careers, and 12 competing in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race.