Save Plockton School

The National Centre Of Excellence In Traditional Music(NCETM) is currently under threat of closure due to budget cuts by Highland Council. Despite a petition of signatures running into thousands, Thursday saw the Highland Council voting to withdraw funding from the centre, which is based at Plockton School and which has been a springboard for many great musicians to make the move into full time, creative music careers and further study at the Royal Scottish Academy Of Music And Drama.

Though the first battle has been lost, the fight is definitely not over. Former pupils and a wide range of supporters have vowed to fight the act of cultural vandalism and to try and reverse the decision. A decision made worse because it was taken by councillors that are supposed to represent the people they serve.

"The work done by the NCETM is of incalculable cultural value to the future of our nation. To close this centre would be akin to bagpipes being thrown in the loch and the banning of the wearing of the plaid - ie a giant leap backwards and an absolute travesty. To have this inflicted, not by absentee landlords and the English government but by our very own Highland councillors who should understand the immense cultural worth of this facility, would be a tragic irony."
- Michael Bryan, professional musician

The decision seems to be highly premature, it appears that there may be alternative avenues of funding the council are only now beginning to explore, avenues it should have explored before making its decision on Thursday.

Even looking at the decision on purely economic grounds, the decision makes no sense. Traditional music is a net contributor to the Scottish economy, including the Highlands, to stem to the flow of young talented musicians from coming through, seems somewhat self defeating. The council should be taking the success story its helped create and use that to raise and attract funding, not take the potentially disastrous of announcing the closure before that has been adequately explored.

"Throughout my time at the centre, we played for an innumerable amount of concerts which gave me vital performing and touring experience, and benefited a vast number of communities across the Highlands Council region and beyond. To get rid of this treasure completely would be a devastating, short-sighted decision."
- Suzanne Houston, former student

In the delicate balance between preserving a tradition and keeping it alive, the weight should always be on the living. Unless musicians are given the opportunity to engage with their heritage and relate to it through participation, it will eventually become a museum piece that will go the same way as the mines and shipbuilding.

As well as establishing the petition, former students are in the process of organising more activity in support of the National Centre of Excellence In Traditional Music. Initially this involves a Facebook site, but naturally as time progresses more activities are being arranged in support of this nationally important institution

To keep up with the news of the campaign and to offer what help you can, join the face book group here.

Neil King