Testimonials

Dundee City Pipe Band & Youth Music Initiative (DCPB) SCIO

DCPB are a fully inclusive Pipe Band; our membership comprises mixed ages and abilities from the board of Trustees through to the playing members of the band. We are a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation, established in 2017 by a young Piper with lived experience of facing barriers in accessing Pipe Bands due to his learning disability and Autism.

Our mission is to provide accessible music tuition that allows all participants to experience learning success and engagement with Scottish culture and heritage through the playing of Pipes and Drums. We nurture a community of shared interest which creates opportunities for community engagement, social connectedness, enhanced health and wellbeing and volunteering / work related activities… “Together we can achieve so much”.

Through funding from the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust, we have been able to employ sessional tutors who have delivered over 2,500 individual music sessions to-date. Our membership comprises 40% who have a self declared disability and 20% who are under 16 years of age. We have undertake public performances ranging from local community festivals to international conferences and we have worked collaboratively with the RSPBA, to influence change in the administration of music examinations improving accessibility and opportunity for all learners.

The Kilmarnock Pipe Band would like to say a MASSIVE thanks to the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust for funding our 6 o’clock club for a whole year, where our younger members get extra training and work towards SCQF piping and drumming exams.

We are incredibly grateful to GDMT, this makes a huge difference to our young people and a huge difference to our band.

Thank you!!!

We were delighted to have received funding towards expenses for Archie & Flora whilst attending the summer school organised by D2 Percussion.

Archie aged 12 is a piper competing within grade 3 of the Vale of Atholl Pipe Band and Flora, 11, plays tenor drum. She has just moved up from the grade 4 band to the grade 3 band having made significant improvement.

Both children thoroughly enjoyed their experience at the summer school, Flora was recognised for her progress and was awarded a scholarship from D2 percussion for the 2019 summer school.

Overall we are extremely grateful to have benefited from the support of the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust, and with your support Archie and Flora have improved their techniques, their confidence has grown and they made lots of new friends from within the Pipe band circuit!

The support we have received from the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust has been invaluable. Not only have they provided the funding to enable us to buy tutor books for our project, but they are always so supportive and encouraging, and offer help and advice in many more ways.
The young people in our project come from highly deprived backgrounds and it is down to organisations such as the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust that they have the chance to learn at all without facing exclusion due to financial barriers.
Thank you GDMT – you are literally changing lives and giving us all something to look forward to in life.

I am very grateful to the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust for their support towards my Master’s studies in Traditional Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow.

Receiving this funding has made a huge difference to my studies and my life – it has lightened the load of the financial part of studying a Master’s degree. Beyond the financial element, the funding has allowed me to fulfil my ambition of studying at the Conservatoire and make the most of the surroundings to collaborate and learn from so many amazing people. The diversity of the Conservatoire means that the potential to learn and make new connections is infinite. Being in this special environment means I can truly focus on honing my skills whilst being surrounded by so many healthy influences.

Through studying at the RCS I have also had the opportunity to study abroad for a semester at the Royal College of Music (Stockholm, Sweden) – an experience which has positively impacted me in my ways. Whilst studying in Glasgow at RCS this last year I have also had many special opportunities to perform internationally in countries including Germany, France, Spain, Slovakia & New Zealand.

Overall, the support from the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust has allowed me to push forward with my musical studies and career and I appreciate this hugely!