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Money arrives at Magic Me from familiar sources: a welcome quarterly top up from Arts Council England, a grant for a project from a charitable trust, a big-hearted individual donation to the Big Give Christmas Campaign. Occasionally, however, we get a nice financial surprise.
Out of the blue last month, we received a £333.20 donation from Judy Seall. We got in touch to see what had prompted her generosity.
Drama teacher and theatre maker Judy met Fevered Sleep through Reading Youth Theatre. Fevered Sleep was one of the theatre companies Magic Me worked with on our Artists’ Residencies in Care Homes project a while back, and Judy was so inspired by the possibilities of bringing the arts into care homes that she set up her own project.
‘Time Bandits’ sent 22 young people into a care home in Henley to work with the residents on arts, music and drama activities – with a few magic trick performances thrown in for good measure. ‘Joy, humour and human connection’ was the goal of the project, said Judy – something we recognise from our own experience in care homes.
Judy runs a regular series of living room gigs at her home, raising money for charities and good causes that mean a lot to her. As Judy told guests about her own work and its Magic Me inspiration, singer Polly Gibbons performed and took requests from the crowd. Sing some Aretha! Give us some Carole King!
The tunes obviously worked. When Judy passed the hat round at the end of the gig, audience members dug deep. That 20p? Someone emptied their pockets of spare change and kindly tipped the total up.
Thank you so much to Judy and your friends! As Magic Me heads towards this year’s Big Give (the Christmas fundraising challenge which is always well supported by individuals) we’ll be inspired by your creative generosity.
