ABOUT
Helping musicians and local charities
The first Semley Summer Music happened during the summer of 2020, in response to the dire situation that musicians found themselves in during the covid-19 pandemic.
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It proved so popular that we decided to do it again in 2021 and 2022 - on an even grander scale. Our local songstress, Iuno Connelly, helped us to put on a programme of opera and light opera favourites. Iuno also created an adaptation of Mozart's Magic Flute, specially for our garden. Local charity, the Cherubim Music Trust, gave us two evening of music, providing performance opportunities for their instrument loan musicians.
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Our chosen charities were the National Garden Scheme, Cherubim and Seeds4Success, who also helped with parking and food waitering.
Selina Elwell
The National Garden Scheme gives visitors unique access to over 3,700 exceptional private gardens in England and Wales, and raises impressive amounts of money for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cake. Thanks to the generosity of garden owners, volunteers and visitors we have donated a total of 58 million to nursing and health charities and made an annual donation of 3 million in 2019. Our core beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and The Queen’s Nursing Institute.
The National Garden Scheme doesn’t just open beautiful gardens for charity – we are passionate about the physical and mental health benefits of gardens too. We also support charities doing amazing work in gardens and health and grant bursaries to help community gardening projects.
The purpose of the Cherubim Music Trust is to enable aspiring musicians to fulfil their potential by loaning professional quality instruments to undergraduate and postgraduate students, and young gifted musicians. In addition the Trust also offers practical support and performance opportunities to help awardees build their portfolio.
Seeds4Success is a youth work charity based in Mere, which provides opportunities for personal and social development for young people living in South West Wiltshire. We enable young people to access programmes that develop practical skills, enhance education, improve employability, provide recreational activities, conserve the natural environment and strengthen the local community.
We offer a wide range of positive leisure time opportunities for young people throughout the week as well as targeted, 1 to 1 support to individuals who are at risk of becoming or who already are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). Through engagement in our projects young people develop social and practical skills, form positive friendships and relationships with trusted adults and their peers, gain confidence, self-esteem and achieve qualifications and awards.
As a rural charity we understand the challenges of transport, so we provide a minibus or support with travel to the majority of our projects, when requested in advance.
Our Mission states “Through inclusive engagement of young people in social action and a range of positive activities, our aim is to develop confident, healthy, skilful, valued and empowered members of our local community, providing targeted support to those facing additional barriers”
"Young people are the heart of Seeds4Success. They are who the charity exists to support, and they are the people who ensure the charity continues to exist."
- Jaki Farrell, Charity Director
