I have been an independent artist for over two decades, working as a performer, composer and producer across theatre, circus, music and variety scenes around the world. My goal has always been to share joy, beauty and wonder through the stories I create and characters I play.

During this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, our venue was broken into and two of my musical instruments were stolen, including the vintage Bach Stradivarius trumpet that I'd had for 32 years. It was given to me by my dad who died last year.

Initially, we were hopeful that my trumpet would be recovered as we gathered solid leads with the help of the local Edinburgh community. These included clear CCTV images from a music store showing a person holding my trumpet, who was trying to sell it at the store after he picked it up from a back alley where the thieves dumped it. We also learned that this person was already known to the local police, and provided the police with the information on how they could obtain full access to the store’s CCTV system. Despite all these leads, since 14 August (over 50 days ago as of the time of this post) the Edinburgh Division of Police Scotland has done nothing to recover my instrument. They didn't even contact the store that offered access to its CCTV system, and they have not responded to my requests for updates.

At this point, I need to replace the trumpet as quickly as possible, as my upcoming performance commitments are fast approaching. I would be incredibly grateful for any contribution, large or small, to help me replace my stolen trumpet so I can continue fulfilling my performance contracts and keep bringing joy to audiences around the world.

Thanks for reading and you can find out more about what happened in these BBC and Scotsman articles.

My story on the BBC and Scotsman

Sachie