Jordan Stephens- Grassroots Hero Award Winner

Artist, author and actor Jordan Stephens has been named the winner of the brand-new award in recognition of his advocacy of grassroots music for young people.

Youth Music is the UK’s leading young people’s music charity. The Grassroots Hero Award recognises an outstanding individual who has advocated for young people and supported the grassroots music scene. Jordan Stephens says: “I am absolutely buzzing to receive this award from Youth Music. I love everything they stand for. They're one of my earliest supporters and I've done whatever I can to repay the favour. Love them. More support for the creative arts. More joy for Youth Music. Thank you so much.”

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Best known as one half of the chart-topping duo Rizzle Kicks, Jordan Stephens has been rewarded for his advocacy efforts and for the backing of overlooked, underfunded and unrepresented projects in the grassroots music scene. Having been publicly open with his own struggles surrounding mental health, Jordan has been very active in creating awareness around the stigma. His mental health campaign #IAMWHOLE reached over 120 million people online and was mentioned in the Houses of Parliament. His children's book The Missing Piece was recently shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Prize. His new book Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs was released in August 2024 and went straight in as a Sunday Times Best Seller.

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The award follows recently published research in the Youth Music Sound of the Next Generation (SONG) Report, that found over half of grassroots music projects have reported a fall in income and Youth Music faces a 45% fall in real term donations. This means that the charity is only able to fund less than 1 in 5 applications (17%) – a historic low. As a result, the grassroots organisations that rely on this funding are at risk of closure, which would affect thousands of young people. Grassroots youth and community music projects play a vital role in supporting the diverse talent pipeline. In fact, the last two Mercury Prize winners were supported by projects like these, funded by Youth Music. So, in its 25^th year, Youth Music is celebrating the work that has been done to equalise access to making, learning, and earning in music, whilst campaigning for a more diverse and more inclusive industry.

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On receiving the Grassroots Hero Award at the Youth Music Awards 2024 ceremony the other week, Brighton-based Jordan Stephens slammed the underfunding of the arts by the Government in his acceptance speech. Stephens said: I can’t believe that the creative arts are underfunded by the Government, and then they’re in a position where they’re complaining about the consequences of young people who don’t have a purpose or a place to find community and joy and passion. You’ve just got to do the maths.” 

To find out more about what Jordan Stephans is doing visit www.instagram.com/jordanfstephens