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Dear Friends and Supporters,
Welcome to our Spring Newsletter! Thank you to all of you who have generously donated to Tom’s Trust. It is only due to you that we are able to continue to support up to 15 diverse charitable projects each year. You can be certain that your money is put to good use as every project is selected with great care.
Could you give a regular monthly donation? This would be a most valuable contribution to our funds!
Click here for a quick, easy way to set up a standing order, or make a one off donation.
Below are stories from three of the charities we have been supporting for the last seven years. As you will see from their personal testimonies, such projects are able to make a significant difference to some young people’s lives....
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Ines' Musical Ambitions
Midi Music and Tom's Trust Bursary helps Ines toward her big dream.
The Midi Music Company is a big bustling building in one of the most deprived areas of South East London, where young people are given the support, equipment, tuition and space, they need to try, learn, rehearse and perform.
One such young person is 14-year-old Ines Proenca. After several years attending Midi's Budding Musicians Club, which provides affordable music tuition to children aged 5-15 years, Ines won one of 8 bursaries funded by Tom's Trust annually for Midi students to go on to study free at the Conservatoire at Blackheath for one year.
Ines in her own words...
'I've been learning classical technique from my teacher, Hannah. I really like it, because it's giving me a strong foundation for my own style. I passed my Grade 3 exam last year and am studying for my Grade 4.
I love music, and have decided to do it for GCSE. I'm thinking seriously about music as a career. I admire acts such as Marina and the Diamonds, and Lana del Rey - she's so characterful and mysterious.
I'm not an experienced performer yet, but I play guitar, and have a friend who plays bass, so we get together and practise covers of our favourite songs. We joined up with a boy on drums for a school concert and did Nirvana's 'Smells like Teen Spirit' with me on electric guitar!
I'd like to start writing my own songs too, but I'm not ready for that just yet - I'm still only fourteen. Tom's Trust, Midi Music Company - thank you so much!'
Happy 21st Birthday Midi Music!
This year The Midi Music Company is celebrating its 21st anniversary. Lead by the inspirational Wozzy Brewster OBE, over the years the MMC has enriched the lives of thousands of kids and teens and uncovered plenty of talent in the process. Tom's Trust would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Wozzy and her team and wish Midi Music many more years of outstanding work.
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Ashton Finds his Focus Through Football
Located in Peckham between two of London’s largest and most notorious housing estates, Greenhouse London FC is the largest competitive community football club in the UK. As there are no trials anyone can join at no cost or at a much reduced rate. What is important is regular attendance, punctuality, attitude and effort. In addition, apprentices are taken on at 16-24 years to become qualified coaches.
Ashton, captain of the Under 11 Youth team, has been a member of the club for about two years. His team trains at Burgess Park on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and plays matches every Saturday. As team captain, Ashton gets many opportunities to develop his leadership skills - qualities that should also help him in the role of Head Boy at his primary school. Last December Ashton explained that when the team wasn’t doing well, he found it difficult to keep trying his hardest. During these moments, he would also tend to get angry:
“I sometimes lose hope during a match and when we lose, it takes me a while to get over it.”
His coach Andy also recognised this side of Ashton and pointed out that he was often over-confident, and would get distracted in stressful match situations. This could also be a problem at school, where Ashton admitted he sometimes rushes through his exercises, and teachers would always have to remind him to check his work. Andy commented that Ashton has the potential to do very well both in football and at school, and that he would help Ashton to develop creativity and problem solving skills through exercises in training. When we met up with Ashton in March this year, he told us how Coach Andy has helped the team in training:
“Andy has been working on team building, so in training the team that shows the most teamwork will get a prize. Before, we used to get sad when the team wasn’t playing well – there was a lot of sulking on the pitch – but now everyone just carries on playing.”
Ashton’s mum agrees that the activities at GLFC have had positive effects on his personal development, particularly his social skills:
“Ashton enjoys the time he spends at the football club due to how passionate he is about the game. Football is very important to him. I think meeting with the other children at GLFC has been positive for him because he now realises that people are different and he has learned the skills needed to engage with children from different backgrounds.”
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