The Toby Hayward-Seers Memorial Fund was established in 2025 to honour the all-too-short, but well-lived, active and purposeful life of an extraordinary young man with a passion for music and social justice. Following consultation with Toby’s family, a memorial fund was established to deliver the south east London iteration of our schools outreach programme, LDN Calling from 2025-2027.
Tomorrow’s Warriors will work with 18 schools over 3 years, with the aim to inspire and support young musicians aged 11-15 to develop their musical talent and, potentially, provide a pathway into our Jazz Hangoutreach programme (delivered in partnership with Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance and Lewisham Music Service) and Tomorrow’s Warriors’ core Young Artist Development Programme at Southbank Centre, London.
The fund also supports a ticket bursary scheme, Be Inspired!, enabling students taking part in LDN Calling to attend professional concerts in live music venues, providing further inspiration to aim high and the opportunity to see what they can be.
We are so grateful to the Hayward-Seers family for sharing their heartfelt tribute below, and we are deeply appreciative of their generous In Memory gift, one that will undoubtedly positively impact hundreds of diverse young people in south east London, uncover a lot of hidden talent, and transform several young lives for the better.
We were completely devastated when Toby died suddenly on his 27th birthday in April 2023. There is a huge hole in our lives which can never be filled. When thinking about how we could honour his memory, supporting Tomorrow’s Warriors was an obvious choice. We hope that many young people will be inspired by their experience of what TW can offer, both in workshops and through attending gigs.
Peter, Mary, Joseph, Ellen, Celia
“Toby had music running through his veins, a child who could sing bang in tune before he could talk. He grew up in south east London surrounded by music, both his parents being professional musicians, and his elder brother and sister playing violin, viola, piano, cello, harp, and saxophone. Toby chose percussion, studying at the Centre for Young Musicians until his love of football took him elsewhere on Saturday mornings!
However, his love of music never left him, and his innate musicality led him to be an excellent DJ while he was still at Thomas Tallis School in Greenwich. He was delighted when he found he could earn good money from his new skill! This continued throughout his time at Sheffield University, and he became a great favourite with his friends both at Uni and back home. He DJ’d at the wedding of his elder brother in London, and of one of his best friends, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Toby was always curious about different genres of music and would seek out artists at the start of their careers. This ultimately led to a deep love of Jazz as he experienced the music of Kokoroko, Sault, Nubya Garcia, Cleo Sol, Theon Cross, and Ezra Collective, to name just a few. Always one to share his discoveries, he introduced his family and his many friends to musicians we might never have come across and who have since become firm favourites. Of course, Tomorrow’s Warriors were behind so many of these artists. Toby would have been absolutely thrilled when Ezra Collective won the Mercury Award.
We were completely devastated when Toby died suddenly on his 27th birthday in April 2023. There is a huge hole in our lives which can never be filled. When thinking about how we could honour his memory, supporting Tomorrow’s Warriors was an obvious choice. We hope that many young people will be inspired by their experience of what TW can offer, both in workshops and through attending gigs.“
