SCORES of school children will benefit from specialist music workshops after an Accrington social enterprise was awarded a £10,000 grant.

Not-for-profit organisation LS Music Studios began delivering sound and light workshops in schools across the borough when it was founded last March.

The managing director Edward O’Brien said the Awards For All grant, from the Big Lottery Fund, has allowed the organisation to buy more equipment and enhance the workshops they offer.

He said: “We're absolutely over the moon that we’ve been awarded this grant. Without it, it would have been a lot harder to deliver the workshops.

“We’ve purchased some new sound equipment with the grant, a new sound mixer, a rack of six new microphones; some fly boxes, a stage box as well as a microphone licence.”

Mr O’Brien, who is also a freelance sound engineer, said that before the grant came through, the quality of workshops was reliant on the school’s own equipment.

He spoke of his hope the new equipment would make the workshops more accessible and offer young people the opportunity to learn the technical aspects of producing music and lighting. He added: “We provide training in sound and lighting production to pupils, and then let them use the skills they’ve learned for a production.

“A lot of schools concentrate on singing and acting and leave the technical aspects out, when there could be a career path that pupils could go down.”

LS Music Studios has applied for charity status, and has started a petition calling on the government to add technical aspects of performing arts to the national curriculum.

It will provide technical direction at Oswaldtwistle’s Carnival on Sunday, June 22, as well as being involved with St Christopher’s CofE High School’s summer fair, in Queens Road West, Accrington last Saturday.

“I’m looking forward to delivering workshops,” Mr O’Brien added.