Your Help Musicians Support (Next Level)

Congratulations on your successful application! We’re so pleased to be able to support you to continue your musical career.

To receive your money, you’ll need to:

1. Accept the terms of your Grant Agreement via the application portal.
2. Send us a written confirmation to confirm your supported activity is still going ahead as planned. If anything has changed since your application, let us know what these changes are. This should be sent in response via email to your relationship manager.
3. Make sure your banking information is updated on your portal including a bank account name, account number, sort code and supporting bank statement clearly showing these details; we won’t be able to trigger your first instalment without this. Please note the name on the account must match the name on your application in order for us to verify your bank details.
4. Send your beneficiary consent form back to us.
5. Select the business advice topics you would like to receive advice on. Our business advice coordinator will be in contact.
6. Complete 1.5 hours of your business advice sessions.

You will receive 80% of your payment 8 weeks after notifying us you have completed all these steps. 

You will receive the remaining 20% of your payment upon completion of the project.

Your support period is 12 months but we understand that sometimes plans change. If you need to extend your activity, we’ll be happy to discuss this with you as you progress. Please bear in mind that, although we anticipate that your activity may need to shift over the course of your financial support, all Help Musicians grants must be spent in-line with the eligibility criteria published for your support strand.

All correspondence should be directed to your personal Relationship Manager. Your Relationship Manager should have already been in touch, however, if you’re unsure who this is, please email support@​helpmusicians.​org.​uk.

Your support includes 6 hours of 1−2−1 business advice sessions with industry experts, find out how to access these below. 

We know that you will find your business advice sessions really valuable so we encourage you to make the most of them. They are fully funded by Help Musicians and you must participate in the sessions in order to receive your support. If you are unable to attend your arranged session, please ensure that you notify your business advisor as soon as possible, and where reasonable, we ask that you provide them seven days’ notice to rearrange an agreed session. It’s very important to us that our advisors’ time is respected. 

We understand that in extenuating circumstances, it may not be possible to provide seven days’ notice. In this instance, you must make reasonable attempts to contact your business advisor and, if you are unable to reach them, please get in touch with your Relationship Manager as soon as possible. 

If you cancel your business advice session with less than 24 hours’ notice or fail to attend an agreed session without any prior communication, this will be considered as non-attendance of your session. Repeat non-attendance may result in a breach of your Grant Agreement terms. 

We kindly ask you to respect your business advisors’ time, and to note that no-shows actually cost the charity money, wasting vital funds which are meant to go towards supporting other musicians in need.

To help you build up your network as a musician, you will have two opportunities to meet and connect with the other awardees in your cohort. The first opportunity will be in your welcome webinar, and then later in your award period we will be hosting a peer learning session.

In these sessions, you can meet like-minded artists, and build up a supportive community where you could find potential collaborators, feedback on your work, and professional opportunities.

You will be contacted by your relationship manager with more information about this.

Your health is important so we facilitate a 1:1 health consultation with our expert partners to help keep you on track.

We partner with BAPAM who deliver expert health and wellbeing services in the performing arts by offering a range of clinical services for illness and injury. You will receive personalised support from clinicians who really understand the issues musicians face and can offer the right kind of help.

If your consultation highlights a need for further health and wellbeing support, such as performance-related physical health treatment, confidence and resilience training, counselling and therapy, you may be able to access funding from Help Musicians to help with the cost.

BAPAM will be in touch directly to book your 1:1 consultation within your 12-month support period.

If you are struggling to cope, you can access mental health support any time of the day or night through our dedicated mental health service and support line, Music Minds Matter. It doesn’t have to be a crisis, or about music. We’re here to listen, support and help at any time.

Contact Music Minds Matter on 0808 802 8008

You can also explore online resources, personal stories, guidance from professionals and further organisations offering support through our online wellbeing platform, Music Minds Matter Explore.

In addition to the above, we also run regular online sessions to help you gain coping strategies to work through particular mental health struggles, and provide a space to listen and be listened to about the challenges of working in music among peers from the industry who can identify with your experience.

BAPAM also run healthy practice seminars, which are all available to musicians.

Contact BAPAM’s helpline number on 020 8167 4775

We are also here to look after your physical health, including heavily subsidised preventative hearing protection and support through injury and sickness, both in the short and long term.

Your success in becoming a Help Musicians supported artist is a huge achievement, and one worth shouting about. 

Sharing the news on your social media channels and including the ​‘supported by Help Musicians’ logo on your CDs, tour flyers or anywhere else related to your creative activity, is a great way to demonstrate that you are a part of a community of musicians actively using your valuable skills and creativity to bring something great into the world.

If you’re still unsure about anything or have further questions about the details of your support, don’t worry, you’ll have the opportunity to talk with the team during a dedicated Q&A session as part of your upcoming induction session. This session is also a great chance to meet other supported musicians and find out more about other ways Help Musicians can support you. We look forward to seeing you then!