Musical Theatre Bursaries Fly with City Airport Support
Disadvantaged young people from Belfast are set to acquire the skills required for a life on stage following significant funding from the George Best Belfast City Airport Community Fund.
20 students will receive weekend academy bursaries at Music Theatre 4 Youth (MT4Uth) following the cash injection.
MT4Uth, the only all-Ireland performing arts education charity, enables young people to gain access to musical theatre. Pupils learn skills in acting, dancing and singing to develop their confidence as performers.
Jenny Cooke, Chief Executive of MT4Uth said:
“MT4Uth was established in 2005 for 11-25 year olds from across Ireland. Our aim is to provide them with the very best quality musical theatre tuition to not only provide them with acting, dancing and singing skills but to aid their social development and boost self-esteem. Our Mini MT4Uth caters for children aged 6 and upwards.
“Our ‘Aim High’ outreach workshops target local community groups to identify young people with an interest in performing arts who would benefit from the projects.
“The project encourages young people from different backgrounds and communities to step into neutral territory and enjoy the theatre venues that are on their doorsteps.
“The funding from Belfast City Airport means that we are able to provide more young people with an opportunity to get involved with their local community whilst learning new skills and having fun.
“Our thanks goes to Belfast City Airport for sharing our vision and allowing us to take the next steps in enabling young people from disadvantaged backgrounds gain access to musical theatre.”
Ruth Morgan, Communications Executive at George Best Belfast City Airport said:
“Through our Community Fund, it is important that we provide support to a range of projects from across the community, particularly when we can see how the funding will directly benefit all members of the group and help them to grow.
“We loved the positive action and energy conveyed by MT4Uth. There is a real passion and enthusiasm for what they do and it’s very encouraging to see that happening in our local community.
“I attended a tremendous performance by MU4th recently in the Crescent Arts Centre which followed a 4 day intensive training workshop. The audience were thoroughly entertained and most importantly, the cast loved every minute!
“Our Community Fund will now allow some of the students to take up their bursary places for the MT4Uth Weekend Academy where they will receive further training for a 10 week period.
“It’s rewarding to see very deserving young people reap the benefits of our Community Fund and we wish them all the best.”
For more information on the community fund or to find out how your group can apply for funding for 2012/2013 please visit www.belfastcityairport.com or contact communityfund@belfastcityairport.com
Further information on MT4Uth can be found at: http://www.mt4uth.com/
George Best Belfast City Airport can also be followed on Facebook (George Best Belfast City Airport) and Twitter (@BelfastCity_Air).