Jessica Craig works the Musicians’ Union, (MU), as ‘Royalties Official’.
Music is for all
Having studied music and being a musician myself, I feel privileged to work for the Musicians’ Union, (MU). Growing up in Coventry and attending a state secondary school, the importance of ‘the arts’ was never promoted and never felt as integral as other subjects.
The idea you could become a musician and make a living seemed too fantastical.
However, at the MU we know working as a musician IS a full time career and we encourage, support and celebrate musicians from all walks of life.
This is why the MU campaigns against musicians being asked to work for free, and works to empower musicians by recognising their work, advising them of their rights and challenging those who try to exploit them.
My role as ‘Royalties Official’ is to ensure any music royalties due to any musician are paid.
The MU pays royalties to any session player or ‘non-featured’ musician who has played on a track which has been synced alongside any moving images, for example a song played in an advert or a film. We also administer royalty payments for some television programmes and music videos. MU royalties are paid to members and non-members, and last year we distributed a record £1.37 million to musicians and their families.
Another part of my role is helping musicians understand their rights, advising on fair terms in contracts and providing the information they need to ensure their music is protected.
In addition, colleagues and I have set up free roadshow events across the UK to highlight the work we do and to speak to musicians one on one about their career needs.
These have been invaluable, with musicians expressing their gratitude for increasing their understanding of music rights and royalties. There are more events to come so look out for information on the union’s website and social media feeds.
Not only does the MU offer to support musicians on an individual basis but the MU is passionate about improving the music industry overall with our campaigns and lobbying work.
Some of these campaigns relate to fixing music streaming and acting against buyouts, however, a vital area the MU is committed to is equality, diversity and inclusion which is crucial in improving the music industry.
This is accentuated by the setting up of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team who aim to achieve equality for all, taking action against discrimination and educating everyone on best
practice.
The MU knows there are challenges faced by women in music, for example sexism, lack of representation, maternity rights and childcare.
We have a growing Women’s Network for members to raise issues and feed into the union’s work, like the MU’s contribution to the Misogyny in Music inquiry in Parliament and the development of template workplace policies on issues ranging from sexual harassment to breastfeeding.
The union offers legal advice to women and guidance on workplace rights for all musicians.
There is also a scheme called ‘Safe Space’ which gives every musician the opportunity to report instances of sexual harassment, sexism and sexual abuse in confidence. The MU can provide advice and information on support services to those affected.
It’s amazing these matters are at the top of the MU’s agenda, so no-one has to face prejudice or discrimination.
This is strengthened by the appointment of Naomi Pohl as General Secretary, the first woman to hold the post since the MU began in 1893.
It is fantastic to work for an organisation where every musician, whether they are a singer, songwriter, student or music teacher is supported and that the MU is behind them no matter what.
This article first appeared in Engage 27.
BY JESSICA CRAIG • March 4, 2024
How a simple act of practical solidarity is transforming the journey to school in The Gambia’s Central River Region North Policies have been written. Schools have been built. Yet for many children in The Gambia’s Central River Region North, access to education is still measured in kilometres, not opportunity.
‘In a single hour vast tracts of shaded woodland became a jumble of torn trees and upturned soil, exposed to the glare of the summer sun. Such land-clearing events are rare, but forests exhibit remarkable resilience in the face of disaster. I’m told that the Chinese character for ‘catastrophe’ is the same as that which represents the word ‘opportunity’. And, the blowdown, while catastrophic, presented opportunities for many species.’ (Wall Kimmerer, 2003: 89). In the context of a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world (Stein, 2021) what kinds of education for hope might support children’s and young people’s critical engagement in local and global issues? In the spirit of exploring the possibilities of hope further, this short article focuses on the area of global citizenship and sustainabilityrelated education. It will briefly open by sharing commonalities across pedagogical approaches that take up the concept and act of hope more critically, and close by offering reflective questions for educators, with suggestions for further reading. Perhaps it is a kind of hope that is grounded in the present, in future reimagining(s), in ethical solidarity, and an acknowledgement of our deep entanglement with the living metabolism of planet earth 1 our singular home (UNESCO, 2021); a hope that engages with complex root causes and lived realities of multiple overlapping crises in critically reflexive and contextually relevant ways. As McCloskey notes, ‘Hope can fire our collective imagination and critical consciousness as a mainspring to activism and intervention in the world.’ (2025: 3). Commonalities across critical pedagogical approaches to hope include: Acknowledging the context of a ‘seamless single story of progress, development and human evolution’ (Andreotti, V.D.O., 2021b Relating to social and ecological justice and the wellbeing of people and planet Using participatory, action-orientated and inquiry-based learning processes Exploring diverse worldviews and perspectives Practising grounding in the present with opening up possibilities for change (relational, embodied, response-able 2 ) Experiencing ‘struggle’ in different forms (dialogical, selfreflexive, open-ended) Engaging individual and collective agency, action and activism Looking for lifelong and life-wide learning and unlearning. 1 See ‘Co-sensing with Radical Tenderness’, in Machado de Oliveira Andreotti. 2021a 2 See ‘Crossing Borders’ in 2 Depth Education “Depth Education and the Possibility of GCE Otherwise, 2021b. Source: Andreotti, V. 2021a & 2021b., Atif, A. (2025)., Bourn, D. 2021., Bryan. A. and Mochizuki,Y., 2024., Giroux, H.A. 2025., Meade, E. 2025. Whilst engaging in the concept and act of hope more critically reflect upon: What kinds of education for hope might you explore further and why? How might you provide generative spaces for engaging in diverse worldviews and perspectives? In what ways can you facilitate individual and collective agency? How might you support learners’ practice grounding in the present in order to relate differently? In what ways can you support learners in navigating complex root causes and lived realities of local and global issues? As Chief Ninawa Hini Kui affirms, ‘The future depends much less on the images we project ahead than on our capacity to repair relations and build relationships differently in the present.’ (Andreotti et al, 2023: 73. An invitation for further reading: Transformative Learning for a Sustainable Future . d’Abreu, C., Belgeonne, C., Bourn, D. and Hatley, J. (2025) ‘Transformative Learning for a Sustainable Future’. DERC Research Paper 24. London: UCL Institute of Education. Hospicing Modernity: facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism. Machado de Oliveira Andreotti, V. (2021a) ‘Hospicing Modernity: facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism’ , London: Penguin Random House. Development Education and Hope . McCloskey, S. (2025). (ed) ‘Development Education and Hope’. ‘Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review’ , Vol. 41, Autumn. Centre for Global Education, Belfast. Link to and download the full reference list here
This summed up to me about why I volunteer for the Hands Up Project. HUP is a charity trust which, through its network of volunteers, connects children around the world with young people in Palestine. By means of online interaction, drama and storytelling activities, it enables the use of creativity and selfexpression to promote mutual understanding, personal growth, and the development of English language skills. I joined HUP in 2020 during COVID. After going to Palestine in 2017, I wanted to get more involved in working with Palestinian children in schools. HUP gave me the opportunity to link up with schools in the West Bank and Gaza. Every week I’d tell them stories from all over the world, then we’d discuss it, play games and I’d get them to retell it. Sometimes we would work from their coursebook English for Palestine’ in mutual team teaching sessions with their teacher. The simple act of telling a story became much more than entertainment. It became connection, healing, and a bridge to the world beyond their immediate reality to help them improve their language skills, and to give them a platform to speak about their lives in a language that connects them to people everywhere. I loved it, every week, seeing their smiling faces on the screen and building long lasting friendships with their teachers. I even went to Gaza in 2023 and met some of the kids I’d only seen on Zoom. It was a beautiful experience and something I will never forget. As hostilities escalated, I lost contact with everyone. I thought about where the kids were and what had happened to them. As I watched schools being bombed, universities flattened, and people killed in their thousands, I thought about where the kids I’d met were and what was happening to them. I kept in contact with many of the teachers I knew and heard daily news of displacement, destruction, hunger and bombing. Recently, I’ve started to link up again with children in Gaza, and it feels wonderful to be back helping them learn after being denied an education for over two years. Connecting with children in Palestine is more than just words. When a child in Palestine confidently tells their story to someone on the other side of the world, bridges are built, empathy grows, and the world gains a fuller picture of childhood in contexts far from peace and privilege. My work with these children is rooted in the belief that education and voice are inseparable. Through storytelling and English language learning, I witness children not just learning new vocabulary, but reclaiming their narratives, believing in their potential, and finding human connection in a world they perceive has abandoned them. And more than anything, this work reminds us all that children — everywhere — deserve to learn, to speak, and to be heard. Links to HUP information, books and resources: The Hands Up Project BY SUSAN PIPER Susan Piper is currently an ESOL teacher in Oldham, Greater Manchester and has worked in education for over 30 years. She is also a volunteer for the Hands Up Project and is the International Solidarity Officer and President of her NEU district. She believes in quality education for all and aims to make her lessons creative and inclusive so that effective language learning can take place.
