'Lifeline' for Time Spanners
The music group has been given a £4,500 donation from The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation
TIME SPANNERS, the music group from Thatcham has described a £4,500 donation from The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation as a "lifeline".
The group's founding member, Mark T said that the cash would now mean that they had enough funding for the rest of the year.
He said: "It has made a big difference. For these small local groups, it's amazing how a little bit makes a big difference.
"It has given us peace of mind knowing we are funded for the rest of the year and you cannot ask for better than that these days."
Formed in 2000, three-quarters of its members are people with learning or physical disabilities and they perform summer and winter concerts, as well as holding workshops.
Just last year, the group received £525 of funding from Thatcham Town Council and a further grant from Greenham Common Trust.
However, Vodafone withdrew its funding in the same year and Mark T said that before confirmation of the funding came through from the Burghclere based Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, the group was in quite a lot of trouble financially.
He said: "The amount (of funding from other places) we were getting would have kept our heads above water but we would not have been able to do much with it.
"We would have done fewer events and there would have been longer gaps between workshops and performances.
"When you have people with disabilities and gaps between performances you have to constantly re-learn things."
A spokesman for The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation said: "Time Spanners has demonstrated a commitment towards sharing music with their community and has a proven track record of projecting positive images of people with disability by putting them at the heart of community events.
"We knew what a difference a financial contribution to their organisation would make.
"Through our donation, which goes towards the cost of professional support musicians, the development of new works and administration fees, we hope to help sustain the positive impact Time Spanners is making in West Berkshire.”
