Sistema Scotland has made the commitment to ensure workers are paid fairly

Sistema Scotland, the charity which runs the Big Noise programme, has been accredited as a Living Wage employer by Living Wage Scotland.

The charity was established in 2007 to transform lives and communities through music. It developed the Big Noise orchestra programme to give children an invaluable range of life skills and experiences, including confidence, teamwork, resilience, pride and aspiration. This enables them to reach their full potential and lead successful and fulfilled lives.

Sistema Scotland has over 130 employees including the organisation’s first ever Modern Apprentice, who started in 2019. The organisation is committed to being a responsible employer by providing support and supervision, fair work opportunities, as well as training and professional development for all staff members.

The charity’s Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at Sistema Scotland, regardless of whether they are direct employees or third-party contracted staff, receive a minimum hourly wage of £9.30. This rate is higher than the statutory minimum for over 25s of £8.21 per hour introduced in April 2019.

Nicola Killean, chief executive of Sistema Scotland, said: “I am absolutely delighted that we have been awarded the Living Wage employer mark. Sistema Scotland is committed to changing lives through music and supporting the children we work with to grow into healthy, confident and resilient adults. This would not be possible without our wonderful staff teams in Stirling, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee.

“We want the children and young people who take part in Big Noise to be able to look forward to jobs and career paths where they are respected and valued. Sistema Scotland has a responsibility to demonstrate the same employment culture that we want for every one of our participants.”

Jack Evans, Living Wage Scotland manager, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sistema Scotland to the Living Wage movement as an accredited employer. We are a movement of over 1,700 Scottish employers who believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.

“We hope that the real Living Wage commitment of over 500 Scottish third sector organisations, including Sistema will inspire more of Scotland’s third sector to choose the real Living Wage as an important step to ensure workers and their families earn enough to get by."