Bridget’s Blog: Reflecting at the Start of 2026

I think I underestimated how my recent announcement would be received! 

Last week, I wrote to the Board of Trustees to offer my resignation, told the staff team, and we wrote to our Membership before sharing the news more widely. It is, of course, a significant moment for Music Mark, but I was overwhelmed by the response the news has received. Reading all the emails, messages on social media and taking calls from colleagues across the UK has been humbling. Indeed, I’m not sure I know the person many have written about!   

It has been an honour to have worked for Music Mark for the past (nearly) nine years as CEO. I joined the organisation just three years after it was created and have seen it through many changes, challenges and developments in music education.   

I think what I have learnt most, though, over that time is that whilst the Membership and our industry partners are as diverse as the individuals within each organisation (and of course the individual members we have too), everyone is united in their passion for music education! I don’t think I would have enjoyed my job as much if it weren’t for the way in which everyone connected to Music Mark has been focused on doing all they can for the children and young people they work with. My role, and indeed the role of the organisation, has been to enable that doing.   

And I am keen to really stress this point. What has been achieved hasn’t been because of me, but because of so many people.   

An amazing Board of Trustees – which changes regularly to enable members to be elected to the Board on a 3-year rotation – has guided and supported the staff team and me. Then there is that staff team. Grown over time, but everyone, past and present, has had an impact. Our communications to members and the wider sector are so much more professional now, our training and events more varied and valued, and I believe we are better connected to our Membership, more representative of them, and speak with greater certainty to policy makers on their behalf. 

At a team away day last week, we talked about Music Mark’s impact. What we do is essential, but it is the impact of what we do that will demonstrate our success. I appreciate that the messages I’m receiving are designed to highlight my impact, but I believe they demonstrate what the organisation has achieved. As I wrote in a response to a few of the emails, it is the staff I work with who make me look good!   

I am not going anywhere for a while. Indeed, my planned leaving date is the end of August. However,  as we start 2026 with my news now ‘out there’, I am learning that Music Mark has a significant role to play in supporting, connecting and influencing, and that is what I, the staff team and Trustees will focus on as we continue to do what we do. It’s business as usual, just with an additional job of finding my successor on the to-do list!