Starmaker Grants
Starmaker Scholarships – History
A few years ago, one of our members was offered a place at one of the performing arts colleges in London, but couldn’t go because they couldn’t raise the finance. This prompted one of our members, Jody Green, to try to organise a fund raising show to help them. Sadly the amount of money they would have raised would never have been enough to support anyone for three years, but Beverly Legg one our Vice Presidents, came up with a suggestion that Starmaker could provide grants each year to allow a small number of our members the opportunity to attend the Summer or Easter School of their choice with one of the big Perfroming Arts colleges.
The scheme was set up in 2003 and so far we have given a grant to 30 members over that 7 year period, 17 of whom have gone on to be trained in a performing arts college or at University studying the Perfroming Arts. The colleges include, Guilford, Bristol Old Vic, Urdang, Birds College, Mountview and Arts Ed, with another two doing performing arts degrees at University.
Starmaker is proud of the financial support it has given to these young people, and the saying we have really put our money where our mouth is, has been a major help.
Each year the members that apply for a grant have an interview and have to prepare a short performance of their choice (in front of people involved in the profession and independent to Starmaker) and normally 4 people are selected and awarded a grant.
It is then our hope that our members will get “spotted” at these Easter or Summer Schools, and therefore it might make it easier for them:
a) When applying for a place at that college
b) When applying for funding through the college,as the college will already have had a chance to see them in action and for more time than you usually get during the college interviews
Starmaker Scholarships Winners – 2009/2010
L to R - Ollie, Tom, John, Gabriella
