Hello! My name is Elise Christina Donoghue and I am very grateful that I have been offered a place to train at my dream drama school LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) in September to study Professional Acting.

Notable Alumni include Benedict Cumberbatch, Brian Cox, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Harriet Walter and Anna Maxwell Martin.

I am eternally thankful for scholarship,bursary and fundraising schemes to exist, as they have supported me throughout my education and training and enabled me to experience learning to its full capacity. I don’t think I would be where I am today without them! This is why I have decided to set up a GoFundMe as any help would be greatly appreciated.

As some of you know I live in Bognor Regis with my dad and two younger sisters. This means I am having to move to London for the course which will be very expensive. Luckily I have a student loan to cover the tuition cost and I am also receiving a maintenance loan to cover some of my living.

However, when putting together a Budget Breakdown I have a shortfall of £2481.20 per year when looking at just rent, bills, travel, food and phone bill. This does not include equipment, clothing, subscriptions eg music, household appliances and social activities.

As some of you know my mum Chris was my biggest support and did whatever she could to help me achieve my goals. I know she would be over the moon to find out I got into LAMDA. She was helping me film my audition self tapes in 2022 before she passed away and would be thrilled to find out three years later I got in! I am so excited to do this for me, but also for her.

Although I am so ecstatic to start LAMDA in a couple of weeks, any donations would immensely alleviate some worries I have concerning money. It would really allow me to put my full focus onto my training.

As an example:

£5 could pay for a days travel to LAMDA

£15 could pay for a book or play I need to purchase off of my reading list

£30 could pay for a weeks food shop

Any donations would also lessen the pressure of me needing to fund a big part of my maintenance fees through my Weekend Job. The course is full time Monday - Friday 9am-5:30pm. So I really only have Saturday and Sunday to work which means I don’t have much income coming in. I will also be working the holidays to bring in more income but it still doesn't cover all my costs.

Why LAMDA?

I am dedicated to pursue acting as a career and I believe LAMDA can help me immensely to achieve this.

I have been auditioning for five years, working tirelessly to improve from the feedback I’ve received auditioning. I would love to continue working at my fullest potential on the BA Professional Acting Course to eventually achieve my goal of becoming an actor.

LAMDA was voted number 1 in the Guardians UK Best Universities for Drama and Dance League Table in the Guardian University Guide 2025 which makes me even more excited to start.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, even if you cannot donate I would really appreciate you sharing this page. I will make sure I keep this account updated so you know what I am up to and what your donations are able to help me with!

Thank you

Elise x