There are some really excellent junior music groups about at the moment – this is so encouraging as the downturn in the funding for all things connected with music in the mainstream schools is pretty alarming. There was a report on the national radio the other day about there being so few children learning to play any instruments that in a few years there will be hardly anyone to take places in the national and regional orchestras. This is truly awful thought, especially as London is the home of the most fantastic example of musical brilliance in the world – the eight weeks of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts from the Royal Albert Hall. The help that children get from learning music cannot be over emphasised, particularly if a child is slow in learning other subjects – music is so often calming but exhiliarating and allows a child to shine in ways no other can.