We’re beyond excited to announce a massive £10,000 donation to our #IAmWarrior Appeal from the Steve Reid Foundation, a charity founded by renowned DJ, Gilles Peterson. Combined with offline donations from supporters (£4,034), Ronnie Scott’s Foundation (£9,169) and PRS Foundation (£15,400), this means we are now 73% of the way towards reaching our £100k goal to keep our Young Artist Development Programme open and free to all!
On 17 March Gilles played a fantastic vinyl-only session at Giant Steps in Hackney Wick on behalf of the Steve Reid Foundation to raise money for Tomorrow’s Warriors. One of the aims of the Steve Reid Foundation is to support emerging talent through education initiatives, so Tomorrow’s Warriors was a natural fit. Gilles has previously said “I can’t overstate the impact that Tomorrow’s Warriors has had on the current music scene in London” and, more recently, described our programme as “Britain’s Berklee”. Many Tomorrow’s Warriors alumni have gone on to work with his label, Brownswood Recordings including Kokoroko, Maisha and Zara McFarlane. Warriors alumni also make up a large percentage of the artists featured on the label’s internationally-acclaimed album, ‘We Out Here’ released in 2018, and we’re looking forward to seeing even more of them at Peterson’s new ‘We Out Here’ music festival this summer (15-18 August).
The Steve Reid Foundation trustees said, “We’re delighted to support Tomorrow’s Warriors with a gift of £10,000 towards the Artist Development Programme to help you reach your £100k goal. We need organisations like Tomorrow’s Warriors!”
Our CEO, Janine Irons said, “We were blown away to receive news of this astonishing gift, which takes us a long way towards securing our Development Programme this year. Without a doubt, several of our young musicians and their parents will be breathing a huge sigh of relief as a result!”
THANK YOU to Gilles and all the trustees of the Steve Reid Foundation and to everyone who has donated to our Appeal!
We now have just 16 weeks left to reach our target of £100k to enable us to secure 100% of the Arts Council England match funding! Please help us spread the word and give what you can – EVERY donation, no matter how large or small, will make all the difference! DONATE TODAY. THANK YOU!
Photo credits: Steve Funkyfeet