Setting the Scene:

It is with a mixture of emotions and with sadness that I’m writing to you today. However, in the truest of spirits and principles that guide Plymouth Music Zone, myself and everyone from the team here at PMZ felt it was timely and necessary to lay out the challenges we have been facing and the reality we are now confronting as a charity.

The reality fast approaching Plymouth Music Zone is that after twenty-five years of tireless hard work and creativity, of tens of thousands of workshops and years of valiant, artistic activism we now face the very real possibility of closing our doors for the last time.

Please be aware and appreciate that PMZ continues to work with and is supported by local and national funders and stakeholders. With this funding and support in place we still have a programme of activities currently being delivered by our amazing team of Music Leaders and volunteers here at PMZ.

In recent months we have taken every possible step to adapt and throughout this time we will continue to change. This is essential and inevitable. However, if we are still here in 2025, it is our enduring promise that all of our people and participants will remain, just as they have so far, at the heart of all and any transformations that take place.

However, if PMZ does not secure additional and vital funding over the next couple of months, by the middle of November we will begin the process of saying goodbye and winding up. 

We know for many of you this news will prompt a mixture of emotions and reactions and it is without doubt that beyond these you will have a lot of questions and concerns. Please rest assured that we absolutely want to connect with and speak to you all about this news, share how we are all doing at PMZ and discuss our next steps.

Past and Present:

You may not know but Plymouth Music Zone has been quietly celebrating its silver jubilee this year. Twenty-five astounding years of music making a difference here in Plymouth.

Established in 1999 as ‘The Music Zone’ it didn’t take very long for this charity, its people and communities to build up creative momentum over the years, embodying the difference that can be made with music and the arts, setting this place and all of its people on a path to become the ‘Plymouth Music Zone’ we all know and love today.

Of course, throughout this time PMZ has always been more than its building, more than its instruments, a shared sum of the tens of thousands of incredible people and hundreds of thousands of hours music, art, love and laughter that has poured from our walls and workshops.

During some of the brightest and darkest of times, at grassroots level, often under the radar here in Plymouth, supported by strong and significant energies such as hope, kindness and compassion, Music Making a Difference has been the scaffolding so many of us have needed to survive.

PMZ’s work has always been about challenging ourselves and others, meeting people from all walks of life, accepting and exploring our differences and disputes, celebrating throughout what connects and binds us. From Devonport, to the whole city of Plymouth and beyond, PMZ has endeavoured to recognise, respect and explore these connections. We have made every effort to understand the difficult work that underpins these relationships all the while and celebrating the genuine networks of intimacy that artistic, authentic and passionate work can effect.

If our message today has impacted you then rest assured, you are among the people and communities that make PMZ so special. We would be nothing without you.

#SavePMZ

We are asking anyone who would like to help us survive this crisis to please donate at our Just Giving page: www.justgiving.com/plymouthmusiczoneltd

To keep us going and deliver our existing programme of workshops and events, it costs a little under £11,000 a month. PMZ really does need your help if we’re going to get through this.

We are a smaller team now, so thank you for all of your patience and understanding. If you need to speak to someone at PMZ, can we ask that you please use email rather than telephone.

You can contact PMZ at info@plymouthmusiczone.org.uk

Next Steps:

PMZ recognises that our lives are just as complex as everyone else’s and for many of us this is just yet another in a long line of sad announcements, statements of closures indicative of our time and the ever changing and challenging world in which we live.

We have all witnessed these struggles play out across our communities and sadly, as a member of these communities, PMZ is not immune nor impervious to the economic pressures impacting us all.

However, in true PMZ fashion how, where and when we can, we still want to remain full of hope and continue to make a difference.

If our news in a couple of months’ is the worst, we will meet this news head on and promise to pour our final energies into opportunities that will give everyone a chance to say goodbye, enabling everyone willing to be part of remembering and celebrating Plymouth Music Zone.

If our news is better, we don’t want to stop this introspection, ignore the obvious and carry on. We want to fully acknowledge the chance that we have been given and those that have offered their support along the way. We want to address all the challenges and to look to our communities for ongoing counsel, support and help. We will continue to empower others, aiding you to aid us, ensuring PMZ’s work continues to benefit everyone it can and in particular those that need music to make the most difference.

At this point we hope that you will all pause for a short moment, take a breath and remember what PMZ means to you and others. For whatever sprung to mind, the sublime to the ridiculous, thank you for taking this time and giving us this moment to share.

Thank you for caring enough, believing in and supporting Plymouth Music Zone over all these years. It is with you we look forward to either shaping a memorable legacy or maybe, just maybe, a brighter future.

From everyone at PMZ much love and thanks.

Chris Hunt, Chair of Trustees and the PMZ Board

Karl Meyer, Music Programme Director and the Staff of PMZ