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The Martyn Donaldson Music Trust

MDMT was established in 2003 to celebrate the life, and try to fulfill the dreams and ambitions of Martyn Donaldson who was a professional musician.

MDMT has three aims:-

  1. To support the general education of disadvantaged African young people. In particular, African young peoples’ musical development and the musical opportunities offered them.
  2. To support the work of Music for Youth by offering financial assistance to its events and activities as required.
  3. To support musical activities in the Macclesfield area by sponsoring community arts projects,  concerts by young musicians embarking on their professional careers and providing quality instruments on a loan free basis for promising young performers.

Schools Work in Kenya

Martyn worked as the music volunteer at Starehe Boys’ Centre (SBC) in Nairobi, Kenya from 1996-98. MDMT now recruits young graduate musicians from the UK and supports them financially during their one or two year tour of duty at SBC and at its sister school, Starehe Girls. Until recently, these were the only secondary schools in Kenya offering a FREE academic education to disadvantaged capable young people.

MDMT sponsors a local Kenyan musician to provide music tuition once a week at Destiny Garden Junior School in a slum area of Mombasa. So successful has this been that in recent years various singing and dancing groups have qualified to perform not only at a regional festival level but also at the Kenyan National Festival.

MDMT provided a digital piano to the newly opened secondary school at Kitale, north of Nairobi, and to the new Masai Secondary School for Girls.

MDMT sponsored students to attend the first week long course following the establishment of the Kenyan National Youth Orchestra in 2010. Two MDMT volunteers acted as tutors during the course.

Supporting Music for Young People in the UK

Music for Youth is the organising body of Europe’s biggest music festival for young people. Around 50,000 young performers from age 5 to 21 take part in a myriad of classes covering every type of music making. MDMT offers travel subsidies to groups attending the regional and national events and the Proms; MDMT sponsors the Outstanding Performance Award for Senior Choirs and the Outstanding Award for Jazz in schools in England and Wales. Frequently MDMT has invited one of our award winners to come to Macclesfield and give a concert.

Recently MDMT has funded a music therapist to work with young people suffering with cancer at the Keech Hospice near Luton. We hope this will be an ongoing service MDMT can offer.

Wallasey Secondary School in a deprived area of Birkenhead on Merseyside is expanding its musical provisions and MDMT is funding weekly instrumental tuition for four students during 2014-15.

MDMT in Macclesfield:

MDMT sponsors music workshops organised by the Early Intervention Unit at Macclesfield General Hospital. These sessions are planned to help young people who are showing early signs of psychological damage. MDMT also sponsors Live Music Now informal concerts in the East Cheshire Hospice, the Stroke Rehab Unit at Macclesfield General Hospital and various Care Homes. These lovely occasions are presented by young professional musicians especially chosen for their communication as well as musical skills.

MDMT also sponsors musical workshops for young people at the Bollington and Buxton Festivals, musical projects organized by Musicians without Borders , and musical workshops supporting the Parachute Centre in Macclesfield.

MDMT organises an annual concert in July showcasing Macclesfield’s young musicians. Recent participants have been Macclesfield Youth Brass Band, Puss Bank Junior School Choir, St Alban’s Junior School Choir and a String Ensemble from Macclesfield Music Centre.

The MDMT web site can be found at www.mdmt.org.uk which the trustees invite you to visit.