We want to inspire The Futureheads of the future with free music lessons in Sunderland schools

Now, the Sunderland institution has teamed up with councillors across five wards in the city to bring the joy of music making to primary school children.

The Bunker School of Sound will see members of the team go into schools in the Ryhope, St Michael’s, Barnes, St Peter’s and Castle wards for free music lessons to help inspire musicians of the future.

The Bunker, which houses 17 studios and recording rooms at its base in Stockton Road, teamed up with local St Michael’s councillor Lyall Reed, as well as Cllrs Antony Mullen, Josh McKeith, Martyn Herron and Stephen Foster to deliver the project, with funding coming from the Community Chest.

Cllr Reed said: “The idea is to reduce the barriers that stop people being able to get into music, like the cost of lessons and instruments.”

Not only does music have far-reaching mental health and social benefits, the creative industries are becoming more and more of a viable career option for young people in the city.

As Cllr Reed explains: “With the film studios coming down the line, there’s a real opportunity for some students to get into the creative industries as a career.”

From national icons like The Clash and Billy Bragg to the city’s biggest names in music, such as Leatherface, Field Music, Futureheads and Frankie & Heartstrings, all have walked The Bunker’s narrow corridors lined with guitars, punk paraphernalia and pictures from the hub’s decades of heritage in the city.

It’s 43 years since The Sunderland Musicians Collective moved their Bunker into its current Stockton Road premises where it’s still going strong, teaching more than 250 people each week, aged from four to 82.

It brings the joy of music to all: the unemployed, those with mental health issues, those suffering with social, emotional or financial hardship issues and those just wanting to learn a new skill.

MD at The Bunker, Kenny Sanger, said: “Lyall came in and had a chat and was really taken with what we have here. We wanted to see if we could do something for our ward initially and that grew to include other wards.

“It’s a six-week programme working with up to 10 kids in each school, forming a couple of bands, learning some covers and writing their own music, which they’ll also be performing at the end of the project.”

The team is also working closely with Sunderland Music Hub to coordinate the project, which may spread to other areas if successful.

Kenny added: “This is a great route into music, which not only has mental health and social benefits, but is a viable career option these days. It’s a way of breeding future Futureheads.”

Last year, The Bunker launched a crowdfunder to futureproof this important part of Sunderland’s musical heritage, with vital roof repairs needed.

The bid was a success with £10,000 raised from the Crowdfunder, £7,000 from an auction of a Billy Bragg guitar, and an ongoing auction of a Dave Stewart guitar.

Other funding came from local donors and Breez energy-efficiency funds, which has enabled the first of the two roofs to be repaired and the installation of solar panels.

Work will now turn to the second roof as well as making the venue more accessible.

The Bunker, the longest-running collective of its type in the country, has been in the site since 1982, but the building has a long, colourful history that predates that, all the way back to 1890.

Built as a bicycle factory, hence its long, thin corridor which would lead to workshops, it went on to house the well-known Milburn's Bakery which closed in the 1970s.

Although the rooves have been patched over over the years, the originals have never been fully replaced, hence their desperate need for modernisation.

You can donate to The Bunker crowdfunder here.