Plans for future periods

Figures 1 & 2 on the finances page show the trend of income and expenditure over the first six years of the Trust's life and indicate our budget plans up to the summer of 2010, when we expect the Trust to wind up, having expended all its resources. The Trust was established as an organisation with a limited life primarily funded by money from the family of Sheena Booth and the last such grant was made in July 2007. The public's generosity in complementing that money has been much more successful than originally expected, particularly for a grant making organisation that did not intend to devote a major effort to fund raising. However, we have decided that rather than continue to operate after 2010 on a much reduced level, we will close the Trust when the reserves run out.

During the final 15 months of the Trust’s operation, from April 2009, we will continue to pay for music lessons for some of the children we have supported in the past; where appropriate, these grants will take the lessons up to the end of the summer term 2010, but not beyond. We are committed to making a contribution of £1,000 towards a Voices Foundation project in a north London school; we have supported them in the past, and were impressed by their effectiveness. We are also supporting another schools project with the percussion group Rhythmically Speaking. Finally, we have allocated between £1,500 to £2,000 to the ColourStrings project in Redbridge. We are very pleased to report that the Music Service and the school itself is also committing significant funds to the project, and we are confident that it will continue after the Trust has been wound up.

We are planning a final concert on Saturday 6th March 2010 at which some of those that the Trust has assisted in their journey towards music will perform.   For further details, see our Trust Events page.

According to the largest ever survey of local authority music services  [in 2005] more than 26,000 children are waiting to learn to play musical instruments because of a shortage of places. Some pupils have been on music waiting lists for more than six months. ……. The academics argued that learning to play a musical instrument was important for all children, not just those who had a particular talent or who contemplated a career in music. "Research with instrumental music teachers supports these findings. They believe that the benefits of learning to play an instrument include the development of social skills, gaining a love and enjoyment of music, developing teamwork, developing a sense of achievement, confidence and self-discipline, and developing physical co- ordination," their report said. The survey also showed that music lessons were not just the preserve of the white middle classes. Twelve per cent of pupils having music lessons were eligible for free school meals, an indicator of poverty.

Extract from a report by Sarah Cassidy, in the Independent, 2nd January 2006