Free drum lessons for NHS staff/their children (that’s the plan, anyway)

They always say that your priority should be to look after your health, and when you have that - nothing else matters. But what about the amazing NHS workers who look after those who are struggling a bit? Working tirelessly, long, daunting hours, dedicating their lives to making ours better.

We all know things are a bit tough right now, and it looks like they will continue to get tougher for a good while yet. I know of NHS staff who are going to food banks…how can this be a thing? I actively avoid being political in a professional situation, but it turns out clapping on the streets hasn’t really helped. They need, and deserve, to get paid more - because without them, we’re screwed.

(I’m perfectly healthy by the way, but let’s face it…none of us are getting any younger.)

So I’ve been thinking, with my ‘drums make everything better’ hat on (BECAUSE THEY DO), wouldn’t it be lovely if any NHS staff who wanted drum lessons for themselves, or their children, didn't have to pay for them? I could go into great detail about the benefits of being a drummer…the coordination skills that are developed, the different sides of your brain being used, it’s good for your mental and physical health, but you knew all of that anyway, didn’t you? But above all, it’s fun, and satisfying to play along to music (unless it’s Shotgun by George Ezra, I’ve taught that too many times now, there’s other songs). And of course, getting the lessons without having to worry about the money side of things is just one less thing to worry about.

Now, obviously, I need to earn a living, as we all do. I’d love to do these sessions for free, but unfortunately that’s impossible. But it became clear on chatting to friends that they’d love to chip in for NHS staff to have their lessons either subsidised, or ideally for free. An informal, no pressure (definitely no commitment), stick a few quid in the pot whenever you can situation. And that’s exactly what we’ve done; I’ve got a separate account (just so I don’t get it confused with my regular income and can keep an eye on the amount), and whenever people feel like it, they can bung a few quid in - that’s the NHS drum lessons pot. And then, whenever I have a student who works for the NHS (or mostly likely, their parents do), I’ll check how much is in there and either do the lesson for ‘free’ or discounted, depending on how healthy the pot is looking.

Easy, yeah? Already a few people have kindly contributed (at the time of writing this, 1st September 2022, there’s enough to cover 7 drum lessons I think) and a few organisations have said they actually arrange things like this anyway so will ‘buy’ some lessons off me for NHS staff. As always though, the more, the merrier. I have a LOT of students at the moment (over 140), so it’s not the end of the world at this end if it doesn’t work out because I’d still work either way but, you know, it’s lovely to give something back, isn’t it?

If you’re ever feeling flushed and want to donate money so that one of my NHS students/parents gets a lesson or two covered, drop me a message (thepaulrichards@gmail.com) and I'll send you the account details. We’re just trying to make the world a tiny bit nicer, for some, with drums…