Help Noella get to drama school

My name is Noella Usborne and I am months away from making a life-changing move. Drama schools are notoriously difficult to get into. Thousands upon thousands of hopefuls annually audition at the world’s top acting schools to get the chance to attend these prestigious schools and train in the same places as many of the acting greats did in years past. After an upsetting year of pure rejection in 2018, I took it upon myself to improve my acting skills, as well as myself as a whole, in order to gain a place at one of these schools. After many months of hard work, commitment and a whole lot of commuting, I managed to land myself a place at one of the top drama schools in the UK. I am ecstatic to say that I have been accepted into Oxford School of Drama  for their Foundation course. Oxford School of Drama is listed as one of the Top 5 Drama Schools in the World by Acting in London , as well as being the youngest drama school accredited by the Federation of Drama Schools (previously accredited by Drama UK), being only 30 years old. The school has trained many successful actors, many appearing on BBC and ITV screens, as well as at many RSC theatres. Most notably, they trained the incredible Claire Foy, who starred as young Queen Elizabeth II on Netflix’s The Crown . However, I will not be able to move to Oxford and attend the school without paying the fees. They are the one thing stopping me from finally getting on track to pursuing my life-long dream of becoming an actor. As a child from a low-income background, this is not the first time fees have stopped me, but this time it’s such a large chunk of money in such a short amount of time that I, nor my family, can accommodate for it. The craziest thing is the fact that these fees are relatively cheap in comparison to other drama school Foundation course fees. Other top drama schools like RADA and LAMDA have fees of over £13,000  for only 1 or 2 months more education. However, these are fees that I’m still unable to afford. Due to multiple reasons, including low-income and past experience with debt, my parents and immediate family are unable to help me raise this money (eg. taking out loans). Due to no fault of my own, I do not have the support that so many of my soon-to-be drama school peers have. The feeling of being alone in my aspirations to pursue a career I’ve worked so hard to gain success in is, to be honest, a crushing one. I have hardly any savings due to the sheer expense of the process of auditioning and landing this place at all, and I do not have a job good enough to save £8,050 in 2 months. So I have turned to fundraising. The estimated breakdown is as such: Personal earnings/savings: £1,000 Fundraisers: £500 Charities/sponsorships: £500 Unaccounted for: £6,000 This is why I need your help. I am, of course, saving every penny to put towards these fees, as well as churning out letter after letter to charities and personal sponsors, but this still leaves me with at least £6,000 to cough up somehow. I don’t expect large donations; I know how pushed everyone is for money at the moment, but I mean it when I say even £5 or £10 helps me more than you know. I’m not proud of having to raise these fees this way, but in all honesty, it was either this, or drop the dream entirely. I would love to give something back, too. It’s not much, but for every donation £50 and over, I will send a personalised thank you letter, as well as an overview of my progress after the course has finished. For every donation over £100, you will receive the above, as well as a copy of my monthly academic logbook, which the school requires us to make to document our progress during our time there, delivered to you every month. If you are interested in donating these amounts, please contact me on GoFundMe with your address so I can send you a proper thank you. I know these ‘perks’ aren’t much at all, but at this particular point of my training, it’s the best I can offer. Regardless, I would finally like to thank you for the time you took out to read and engage with my campaign. I don’t enjoy having to ask for donations this way, but it really is the only way for me to prevent money being such a huge barrier to my career. Many thanks, Noella