Objectives and Activities of the Trust

The Trust was set up in memory of Sheena Booth, an East London music teacher who died in December 2002. The purpose of the Trust was to continue Sheena's work of furthering the musical development of children and young people.  It was a grantmaking charity which concentrates its main energies on distributing the capital and income at its disposal.  Fund raising events were also undertaken, but this was a secondary activity, and since the events were all musical in nature, these events also furthered the Trust’s objectives directly.   The Trustees actively monitored and, where possible and appropriate, assisted the projects the Trust supported.  Most of the projects supported were in North and East London.  This was for a number of reasons: - to reflect the area where Sheena worked, to enable the Trustees more easily to monitor the projects, and to limit the geographical extent of activities of this relatively small charity.

The Trustees established the following general guidelines for allocating grant money.

1) The Trust's work was predominantly be directed to musical education as part of a general education, rather than for training or encouraging young professionals for a career in music. All levels of skill and ability were included in the Trust's remit, with no particular ability range being favoured.

2) No particular musical instrument should be favoured; on the contrary, as wide a possible a range of instruments and musical styles should be encouraged.

3) Development of listening as well as playing skills were included in the Trust's remit.

4) The Trust sought to encourage group musical activities, for example in choirs, chamber music groups and orchestras, as well as solo playing skills.

5) When prioritising grants, preference was given to causes where there is most need and where other sources of assistance are not available.

6) The majority of grants went to school age children, with support to causes for young people in their twenties forming a lower percentage of the grant money allocated.

7) Preference was given to grants for projects in the area in which Sheena Booth worked (i.e. Redbridge and surrounding London boroughs) although applications from other areas were considered and in a number of cases granted.

8) The Trustees aimed over time broadly to reflect the balance of interests set out in these guidelines.

The Trustees decided to support five general classes of projects, as follows.

1) Grants to the Music Services of the London Boroughs of Redbridge and Haringey, for a specific single project in each borough.

2) Direct support to schools for various music-related programmes.

3) Provision of musical experiences for children in hospitals and hospices, in conjunction with the Guildhall School of Music.

4) Provision of musical opportunities for children with special needs.

5) Grants for private music lessons in cases where they would otherwise be hard to afford.