Battered guitars are music to this guy’s ears
Dublin People 14 Nov 2014
A CHILDREN’S charity has appealed to Dubliners to check their garages, attics and garden sheds, to look under their beds and in the back of wardrobes for old, unused and even broken musical instruments.

The Musical Youth Foundation provides at-risk children with free access to life-changing music education programmes in community centres and schools across the city.
The charity’s founder says they urgently need more musical instruments and he believes there are thousands of unused instruments lying unwanted in homes up and down the country.
“While there is a particular need for acoustic, electric and bass guitars, we are open to any and all instrument donations and we are even willing to arrange collection,” stated Dubliner Chris Maher.
“Do you have a broken guitar or maybe an old drum? Well, we’ll probably take that too,” declared Maher.
“Following our last call for instrument donations in 2012 we received quite a few broken ones. I didn’t have the heart to dump them.
“If instruments could talk I’m sure they would have had a tale or two to tell so we came up with the idea of upcycling them in conjunction with some of Ireland’s best artists, designers and musicians.”
The result was an Instrumental Art Exhibition in Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre during summer 2012 that attracted over 10,000 visitors.
Since then the charity has transformed dozens of old guitars, violins and drums into stunning art and furniture pieces which it uses to generate much needed funds for its work helping in vulnerable children benefit from community based group music lessons.
The charity is currently giving anyone who donates
?¬5 or more the chance to win an exclusive upcycled Marshall Guitar Cabinet Coffee Table.
“The cabinet was broken and beyond musical use when we received it so we decided to strip it down, sand it, stain it with a mahogany wood stain, varnish it and then top it off with a glass top” Maher explained. “The result is a totally cool coffee table that will look the business in any home.”
Maher said that as a charity the Musical Youth Foundation always strived to stand out from the crowd.
“And this is just a fun way of engaging with the public and showing them how much we appreciate their support,” he added. “For every
?¬5 donated via our website, www.musicalyouthfoundation.org, donors will be entered into a quarterly draw. Last quarter it was an upcycled drum which had been transformed into a unique side table.”
The charity currently helps 100 children across seven locations in local community centres and schools to access weekly tuition, practice sessions and supporting workshops in live performance, singing and song writing as part of its ëGuitars for kids” programme.
Maher believes that the benefits of a musical education stretch way beyond the lessons, by helping to build a child’s confidence, improve concentration and teach them the value of patience and perseverance.
“Aside from being a very satisfying hobby, music education is known to help improve a child’s performance in the classroom outside of music education itself,” he said.
“If you have an old guitar hiding under your bed or a ukulele feeling lonely in a corner, please donate it to the Musical Youth Foundation and let it feel the love again.
“By donating your instruments you will be helping the Musical Youth Foundation to move closer to achieving our goal of providing every child on the island of Ireland with access to musical education.”
If you have an instrument that you would like to donate, email info@musicalyouthfoundation.org with the details and your location.