We are a not-for-profit social enterprise, based in Shawlands on the south-side of Glasgow, aiming to reduce social isolation and loneliness by increasing access to acoustic pianos.
The place to be, the thing to do
We are one of a growing number of social enterprises recognising and responding to social isolation and loneliness, issues that affect the health and wellbeing of us all. Through the GSEN Health Network we are among 39% of SENSCOT members supporting the ongoing development of a national strategy to tackle this issue more effectively. Through our arts and music initiative 'Glasgow Piano City', we want to give people in Glasgow greater permission to play. Irrespective of age or ability, we encourage people to come along to our Lids Open Days, get involved in decorating a piano and play one of a number of our street pianos, which are donated to us, repaired, restored and redistributed back into the community.
Where it all started
We began life at the 2013Festival of the Pianowith our firstLids Open Day,held at City Halls and a wee tour of Glasgow's Museums with two decorated pianos:Floyd & Calisia. Glasgow Piano City was constituted on April 1st 2014 and with 'Celebrate' funding from the lottery we facilitated the first Scottish installation of 'Play me I'm Yours' for the Commonwealth Games. Since then, we have grown into the social enterprise/community interest company: The Piano Project CIC. We are still, mostly, a voluntary organisation seeking core funding, with a home base in Shawlands Arcade. As a result of the last six years of shenanigans (and bucket loads of piano donations to our project too) there are now many more acoustic pianos for people to play freely around the city (200 approx) and the number of piano-friendly venues is growing steadily.
