Ed Sheeran Foundation Reaches 12,000 Young People Through Music Education

British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran’s foundation is expanding access to music education across the UK, reaching around 12,000 young people through its network of schools and grassroots organisations.

Launched in 2025, the Ed Sheeran Foundation aims to make quality music education accessible to children who face financial or social barriers. The initiative has supported 18 schools and grassroots organisations, helping them sustain and expand music programmes, provide instruments and create opportunities for young people to explore music.

The foundation works with communities including children from low-income families, those in care and young people with special educational needs. Its approach focuses on strengthening existing organisations that deliver music education at the community level.

A personal connection to music education

For Sheeran, the initiative reflects his own experience of growing up with music. A teacher’s encouragement to write songs helped him develop skills that eventually shaped his career. His journey has reinforced the importance of early exposure to music and the role educators can play in nurturing young talent.

The foundation seeks to offer similar opportunities to children, whether through learning an instrument, songwriting, music production or performing before an audience.

To mark its launch, Sheeran visited schools and youth groups in Cardiff, Coventry, Edinburgh and Belfast. In Cardiff, he joined his longtime songwriting collaborator Amy Wadge to engage with students and encourage them to consider music as a potential career.

The visit also held personal significance for Sheeran, who travelled to Cardiff as a teenager to work on songs with Wadge, an experience that contributed to his development as a songwriter.

Beyond performance: Building careers in music

The foundation’s ambitions extend beyond music lessons and performance, with a focus on helping young people discover opportunities across the wider music industry. These include songwriting, production, sound engineering, tour production, management and technical operations.

The UK music industry employed 216,000 people in 2023, according to UK Music figures cited in the report, highlighting the range of career opportunities available beyond the stage.

By supporting schools and grassroots organisations, the Ed Sheeran Foundation aims to connect early musical experiences with longer-term opportunities in the industry. Its reach could grow as its network expands, with the broader goal of ensuring that financial circumstances do not prevent young people from developing their musical abilities or exploring careers in music.