British Record Industry Trust,
trading as
A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...
BRIT Trust, is a recorded music charity in the UK, established in 1989 by UK record labels. Its mission is to "improve lives through the power of music and the creative arts". It is directed by a team of trustees, led by
Tony Wadsworth, who was appointed chair of The BRIT Trust in February 2021, taking over from John Craig.
It is funded largely by money raised each year by the
BRIT Awards and also by the annual Music Industry Trust awards dinners (MITS), and has made more than 230 grant commitments totalling over £27 million to a wide range of causes and charities.
BRIT School
The
BRIT School
BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology is a British performing and creative arts school located in Selhurst, Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, music technology, ...
in Croydon has been a major beneficiary of BRIT Trust funding, and was set up shortly after the Knebworth concert of 1990 where
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals, lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums, percussion). Th ...
,
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
,
Jimmy Page
James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin.
Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...
,
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
and
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
, and more, performed to support The BRIT Trust.
Since its establishment in 1991, the BRIT School include alumni such as musicians
Adele
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...
,
Leona Lewis
Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress, model, and activist. Born and raised in Islington, Inner London, she later attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieve ...
and
Loyle Carner
Benjamin Gerard Coyle-Larner (born 6 October 1994), known professionally as Loyle Carner, is an English hip hop musician. After supporting various rappers during their tours, he released his debut album, '' Yesterday's Gone'', in 2017, which g ...
, as well as actors including
Blake Harrison
Blake Keenan Harrison is an English actor. He is best known for playing Neil Sutherland in the BAFTA-winning E4 comedy ''The Inbetweeners'' and more recently as 'Medium' Dan, in the ITV sitcom '' Kate & Koji''.
Career
Harrison starred in thr ...
,
Tom Holland
Thomas Stanley Holland (born 1 June 1996) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award, he featured on the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Europe list of 2019. Some publications have called him one of the most ...
and
Cush Jumbo
Cush Jumbo (born 23 September 1985) is a British actress and writer. She is best known for her leading role as attorney Lucca Quinn in the CBS drama series ''The Good Wife'' (2015–2016) and the Paramount Plus spin-off series ''The Good Figh ...
.
Other charity partners
The BRIT Trust has been a long-term supporter of
Nordoff Robbins, the UK's leading independent music therapy charity; as well as
East London Arts & Music
East London Arts & Music (also known as ELAM) is a free school sixth form located in Bromley-by-Bow in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England.
History
Established in 2014, ELAM is for students aged 16 to 19 who wish to pursue a career in ...
(ELAM), the games design, music and film and television college for 16- to 19-year-olds situated in East London.
It also supports the
British Phonographic Industry
BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
's BRITs Apprentice Scheme, which since 2018 has each year given up to 10 individuals from diverse backgrounds looking to start out in the music business a high-quality, paid opportunity to fast-track their careers with small-to-medium independent music companies.
The BRIT Trust has recently broadened its educational remit to also incorporate mental health and well-being, and has since supported charities such as
Mind
The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...
, which has developed programmes to encourage awareness of mental well-being in the workplace, Music Support, which provides counselling for those who work in music who may struggle with addictions or with demands placed on them by their careers, and
Key4Life
Key4Life is a British charity launched on 14 June 2013 to help reduce youth reoffending through the delivery of a rehabilitation programme to those in prison and those at risk of going to prison. Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson, the Englan ...
, which helps young men in prison, or at risk of going to prison, to find more positive pathways through their love of music.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Board of TrusteesMusic Support
Charities based in the United Kingdom