The Yehudi Menuhin School has raised over
£391,000 in support of its Bursary Fund, thanks to a record-breaking
match-funding campaign.
A generous local family offered to match
pound-for-pound all donations to the School’s Bursary Fund during the campaign,
which ran from last October to Christmas Eve. The family, which is well known
to the School but prefers to remain out of the limelight, explained that they
hoped to encourage others to give, through offering to match their donations,
as even small gifts would have double the impact.
More than 240 supporters, many of them
regular concertgoers at the School’s Menuhin Hall, responded generously to the
appeal, which broke the record for previous match-funding campaigns.
Ben Gudgeon, Headmaster, said: “We are deeply
grateful to each and every one of our supporters for responding so generously
to our appeal. It is heart-breaking when a talented young musician is offered a
place at the School but their family cannot afford to send them. Our pupils
come from all walks of life, and all over the world, and it has always been the
Menuhin School ethos that we seek to accept pupils based on their ability to
play, not to pay. These donations to our Bursary Fund will allow us to offer
support to pupils who secure a place for next September, but whose financial
situation means their families would have difficulty paying full fees.”
The School forecasts it will need to raise in excess of £700,000 every year to fully meet the demand for bursaries. Support is raised from individuals as well as trusts and foundations, and through corporate donations.