Take It Away

We’ve learned about a brilliant scheme from the Arts Council to enable young people to get their hands on musical instruments more easily and cheaply.

Take It Away aims to make musical instruments more accessible to children and young people by providing interest-free loans of between £100 and £2,000. Through a network of over 300 participating retailers across England. In the past two and half years, over 50,000 individuals have used the scheme to purchase instruments worth over £50million.

It seems you can get a loan of between £100 and £2,000 towards the cost of a musical instrument as well as additional items such as sheet music, a gig bag and even tuition (if the shop offers it) to make sure your child has everything they need to get playing.

This extension to the Take it away scheme will enable Arts Council England to make musical instruments more accessible to children and young people, supporting them as they first develop their musical talents and interest, when access to good quality instruments is essential to their progression.

The scheme will continue to be open to 18 – 25 year olds applying in their own right, supporting young people post-education when they may need some support with making their own instrument purchase.

How does it work?

If you’re an adult using the scheme to buy an instrument for a child under 18, you’ll need to do this in person at one of our 300+ participating music shops across England.

The shop staff will help you complete the loan application form in-store which includes a credit check being carried out on you. If you’re accepted you’ll need to pay a minimum 10% deposit and then pay the rest back in 9 monthly instalments – completely interest free.

If you’ve got any other questions about Take it away, then head over to their FAQs page or email them at takeitaway@artscouncil.org.uk