Help local Cork girl get to Rada

Update: I completed the three years and graduated with a degree! Thank you from the bottom of my heart ♥️

Hello everyone! My name is Rachel O Connell and I’m an Actor from Mayfield in North Cork. I’m coming on here to set up a go fund me as my last resort to help me get to Rada in London. I have always wanted to go to this incredible college but I knew my parents could never have afforded it and to be honest I never had the confidence to even apply. Until now. It literally took a pandemic, and me losing nearly two years worth of work in theatre to push myself to send in an application. Over the course of the year I had to go through 4 rounds of intense auditions.

Out of nearly 5000 people I was very lucky to be chosen as one of the 20 something people that got in (and the only Irish person chosen).

This college has trained the likes of Anthony Hopkins, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Peter O Toole, Vivien Leigh and so many other incredible Actors. It’s probably the most prestigious Acting college in the world and known as the most difficult one to get into it.

The only thing is that this incredible training comes with a large price tag and after losing my dad 8 years ago to cancer, myself and my mum Joanie have no way to fund this. We’ve been racking our brains to try and come up with the money but to no avail. Rada fees will work out at €32,500 for the three years and the college estimates that to live in London will cost a student €16,600 each year. In total this works out at €81,000. (If I could take off a few zeros there’d be no bother) One thing I’ve managed to get is a €3000 grant this year which I am beyond grateful for but that still leaves me with €78000 to come up with.

I have exhausted every avenue to try and come up with the funds, written to politicians and applied for any grant or scholarship Rada might have but I’m still waiting to hear back from everyone. So that’s why I’m here (now desperate) hoping I can get any help at all.

I have waited a long time to even apply for a college education and I don’t want to allow the lack of money to be a barrier anymore.

Anyone who knows me will vouch for how I hate asking for help especially when it comes to money and especially during such difficult times like this last year and a half but I really don’t know what else to do.

Rada has always seemed like an impossible thing to achieve. It’s truly been a dream of mine to go there since I was 15.

Being offered a place at RADA has taught me, we are never too old to chase the dreams of our youth. I would be so grateful if you could help me in any way at all.

Is mise le meas

Rachel