This mission had a particular resonance for the three of us signed up to help out at Plaistow Primary School on a quiet Wednesday evening. This is Newham GoodGymmer Rosie’s school, where she’s Deputy Head, and all of the children in Year 5 learn to play the flute together. These lessons are thankfully continuing over the current school closure and the parents of most children had already come to collect the instruments, so we were there to ensure the safe journey of the remaining 11 instruments that hadn’t been possible to collect.

Back in the day, Graham reached the dizzying heights of Grade 2 (or possibly 3, the memory is apparently a bit hazy) on the flute before his musical talents evolved to the point where he’s able and willing to belt out a couple of Lighthouse Family numbers at the drop of a hat. Rosa is a violinist, soon to be lead fiddle player with GoodGym Newham’s own ceilidh band (probably… this is currently something of a pipe dream following a bout of reminiscing over last year’s Burns Night party). And in normal times I’d usually spend a few nights each week carting a cello or double bass around London to rehearse with various amateur orchestras. So we each have some idea of what it means to be able to learn to play an instrument – it isn’t that much about careers in music, except perhaps for a select few, but a whole world of opportunity to be opened up through access to music of any genre. The joys of making music with other people - friendships, creativity, teamwork, plus loads of other transferable skills. An educational journey that will continue for life if you want it to. The arts are essential and I’m so glad we were able to provide just a little bit of help with access for these children in difficult times.