Main fundraiser photo

We're Moving

Donation protected

In July 2015 we're relocating from our current home on the Holloway Road where we've been for the last 3 years, across to Tottenham, to take up 
residence at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre.

The MTA will be housed in the current Hub building at BGAC - taking over the top two floors of this historic listed building.

The move means that for the first time in The MTA's history we'll be able to offer our students the chance to stay late after college to rehearse/practise, and even to use the college over the weekend.  It also means that we'll have rehearsal space to hire out (the proceeds of which will go directly to our Hardship Fund).

With our unique 'college for life' policy it means that we'll be able to offer our ambassadors (The MTA's alumni) even more classes/rehearsal space, to ensure that they keep up their skills set when finances are stretched. 

We already offer our Ambassadors up to 9 free dance classes a week, but this relocation means that we have the potential to offer them more structured acting, voice and singing classes too.  At a time when so many people are saying that the Arts have become elitist due to the cost of staying on top of your skill set, we'd be in a position to do even more for our graduates, to ensure that this isn't their reality. Read more about it here

The MTA opened in 2009 and we receive absolutely no regular funding or sponsorship.  In the 6 years that we've operated we've received a donation from the Take That Trust Fund for the first 2 years which meant that we could offer scholarships to students unable to pay from the very beginning, and then in 2012 we received a one off donation from the ALW Foundation to pay for an additional member of staff for the year. Unlike our longer established competitors, we don't have big benefactors or sponsors that are financially helping us out(not for the want of trying we might add). 

Other than those 2 donations all of our operational finances have come entirely from fees.  We operate under a policy of Open Book Accounting - guaranteeing our students that their fees go on premises, productions and staff.  In 2013 we became a registered charity, adding to our transparency and accountability.

The MTA runs the UK's 1st accelerated learning programme for performers, meaning that our students work intensively for 2 years as opposed to the traditional 3. To date 100% of our students have graduated having gained agent representation, and at any point last year 70% of our graduates were working (or had work pending). In 6 years we've seen just 6% of our graduates opt out of the industry and change career path. We call our training  'The MTA Way' In 2012 we were named as The School of the Year in The Stage 100 Awards, with the citation calling us a 'new force in drama training.'  We've seen our Ambassadors working in BBC dramas, the West End, No 1 Tours, International Tours, Headlining Major Cruise Ships, working in Musical Theatre, Cabaret and 'Straight' Plays from Wicked to Shakespeare.

http://www.thepublicreviews.com/blog-annemarie-lewis-thomas-training-the-ethical-mta-way/

We are the only MT course in the UK that splits the focus of our acting course 50/50 between stage/screen.

We take a maximum of 22 students/year, guaranteeing them a minimum of 40 contact hours/week.

We have a pioneering pastoral system, which sees us having a Mental Health worker at the centre of our Faculty.  We have 2 members of staff on call 24/7, 365 days/year.  This support is ongoing for staff, students AND ambassadors. 
 http://www.thepublicreviews.com/blog-annemarie-lewis-thomas-mental-health-education-starts-at-college/

We are the only course to produce public performances every term (we produce 6 shows in total/year) - all in established theatres, with the production values that you would expect to see at such a venue.  



We don't have a team of salaried staff - the college is run solely by the Principal (aided by a PA...who doubles up as the CSM for all college productions) who takes full responsibility for the day to day running of the business as well as teaching on the faculty, and being on the creative team for some of the shows.  The ethos behind the college has always been to strip away the excesses to ensure that absolutely all the fees go directly to benefit the students not the college.

So in total we have just 2 full time members of staff, 3 part timers (on various 0. scales), with the majority of the staff being made up of freelancers. We have a policy of ONLY employing staff that are currently working in the industry. 

We have chosen to steer clear of  what we consider to be the flawed accreditation system, and instead we have remained resolutely independent, letting our statistics speak for themselves: 
http://www.thepublicreviews.com/blog-annemarie-lewis-thomasa-stamp-of-approval/

It's a unique course which focuses on the individual which of course means that it is very expensive to run (when you think that our competitors charge the same/more than us over 3 years and they get a government subsidy too).  



This does however mean that we have a very small pocket of savings to facilitate our much needed move.  We have already secured a loan from the bank, but we are launching this campaign in a bid to match fund that loan, in the hope that we're able to complete all the work needed prior to moving in for the final term of the year.

What's The Money For?
We have once again been generously helped by the amazing architects over at MEB design (who oversaw our move into the Holloway Rd premises), and after consultation they have given us a template to remodel the 2 floors in a way that would best suit the college. This is to include 2 large rehearsal spaces, 2 offices, 1 counselling/physio room, 1 gym, 1 Green Room, 1 Library and 1 storage area for props/costumes etc.  We also need to rehouse an acoustic pod (a sound proof room used for 1:1 singing lessons, and private practise).  Whilst we're not looking at a massive rebuild the restructuring has been estimated at nearly £50,000 (this includes removing walls, putting up new stud walls, laying new flooring etc).  Moving the specialist Pod from Holloway to Tottenham will cost us £4,000 (a small price when you consider that it costs in excess of £25,000...so definitely worth the move).  

In addition to that we will need to buy furniture for the college (as all of our current furniture belongs to the old building).  We have estimated a further £2000 for the basics e.g. sofas/chairs/desks.  Then if we reach our target here we can also buy some much needed new lockers (for the students), and some additional gym equipment for the new designated area.

So roughly speaking we're looking at the move costing us between £50,000-£60,000.  

Why Fund Raising?
Whilst behind the scenes we have sent out hundreds of letters over the years looking for sponsorship, this is the first time that we've actively set up a fund raising campaign, and indeed part of the reason for the move is to help us to self perpetuate scholarship money. 

However the simple logistics are this - the more money that we're able to raise outside of our loan/savings, the more money that we can keep set aside to invest in our Hardship Fund, which will mean that we can continue to support students to stay at the college who are facing financial hardship.  To date we have never 'lost' a student, or prevented a student from graduating due to a lack of finances.  Our ultimate aim is to one day run the course with a percentage of all places being sponsored.

We won't raise the fees to fund the move, or take more students to give us a bigger pot of money...but we would just prefer our small pot of 'savings' to be ploughed back into the students if at all possible.

We're attempting to help ourselves as much as possible (so it will be a team of ambassadors and volunteers that will help us to undertake the relocation, including decorating both premises), but some things are just beyond our area of expertise.The MTA 2013-2014 Something Old, Something New Finale

The MTA 2nd Years 2014, in Beauty and the Beast, our first production at BGAC. We played to over 1000 local children as part of a 'pay what you can' scheme to ensure that every child had the opportunity to see a panto at Christmas.  Now that we're going to be resident over at BGAC we hope to build on this scheme every year.

Find out more about The MTA Way here

T
he move to BGAC will provide our students with better facilities, our ambassadors with better resources, and will also enable us to start an outreach programme working with the local community, ensuring that we also are 'giving back'...or 'paying it forward', as is #themtaway

Organizer

Annemarie Lewis Thomas
Organizer

Your easy, powerful, and trusted home for help

  • Easy

    Donate quickly and easily.

  • Powerful

    Send help right to the people and causes you care about.

  • Trusted

    Your donation is protected by the  GoFundMe Giving Guarantee.