Way back in 2005, Ed founded now defunct Devon Squeezebox Foundation, with tutors teaching melodeon, piano accordion and English concertina around the county.
Through a Lottery Grant from Awards for All, Ed was able to purchase 10 Hohner Pokerwork D/G melodeons. The idea was (and is) to make playing the melodeon as accessible as possible, providing the opportunity to learn on a quality instrument for those who may be interested but didn’t have access to one. Should they subsequently wish to buy one, they have experience of how a good one feels which is a very useful yardstick.
Since then, through additional purchases, generous gifts and kind bequests, the Loaner Hohners now number 20.
They are lugged around the country for festival workshops with Squeezebox from Scratch and used by Melodeons in Devon students in the winter.
In this 2026 festival season, with the addition of some of our personal boxes, we were able to lend out 22 instruments on 7 occasions. That’s 144 people trying out who wouldn’t otherwise have had access to an instrument this year alone. How many must that be over the last 21 years? Mind-boggling…
The most heartfelt thanks to Awards for All and to those generous friends who, through their kindness, have provided (and continue to provide) this priceless opportunity for new musicians.