Our EA Instrumental service is at risk. On Thursday 31 October, the council is voting... voting to decide if the instrumental service survives, or is simply forced to become a lamb to the public slaughterhouse of privatisation.

The council proposes that, due to a lack of funding available, the instrumental service must be out sourced to EA Leisure, an organisation which has posted a financial loss consistently for almost 10 years.

 If we direct our attention to England, we see that outsourcing to trusts and private companies has decimated music in England. Do we really want this to happen to our wonderful Scottish music culture? 

There are many reasons trusts and private companies regret involvement in music:

• They refuse or are not able to shoulder the cost
•  A lack of understanding for the rights of teachers and instructors
• The organisation likely lacks understanding for music and how music is taught
• Half-baked attempts to cut costs by cutting vast amounts of jobs
• There is no hesitation to add costs to lessons and music tuition

This all leads to our kids in East Ayrshire having little to no access to an incredibly important thing. Art. We aren’t all artistically gifted. Not everyone can or wants to be a professional artist and that’s fine, but tell me this, what would life be without listening to a violin's melody, or singing in the shower. A life without your favourite book, movie or song, a life without your favourite band instead of sitting in silence. What life would that be? What world would that be? Whether you are an art extraordinaire or not, the world you're living in and in turn your life has been shaped by art. From the benefits of playing your first note on the string of a cello as a child to how art helps us later in life… and how art represents us in the in between.

Worst of all, the council seems unbothered by what happens to their incredible, hard working teachers. If the service is outsourced or privatised, not only would these teachers potentially face pay cuts, they would have no pension security, little equipment, and most critically, no JOB security. The contracts offered by these trusts and private companies will drive teachers away. The teachers here in East Ayrshire are truly some of the best in the country, internationally recognised teachers and musicians. Do you really want your kids to lose these opportunities?

Finally, as a pupil of EA Instrumental service myself, I plead with you. Please don't let our council take away a significant part of my life, something that has taken me from St. Andrews to New Orleans, from Dumfries House to Elvis' Graceland. Please, don't let this opportunity be robbed from your own children.