Trusts and Foundations Support
The Place’s vision has three main strands – artistic, educational and social. Working with dancers from age 5 upwards, The Place provides a huge range of opportunities across the spectrum for those new to dance, for those who want to pursue a professional training at the London Contemporary Dance School and for those talented professionals and cutting edge choreographers who want guiding through their careers. There is a full ladder of progression for those with the talent and dedication to pursue dance as a career but equally there is a wide range of programmes for those who love to dance as a hobby.

There are a number of ways charitable trusts and foundations can support us, but our priority funding areas are:

Learning and Access
Unmatched in its range and quality, the educational and outreach programme is very well established at The Place. Our building is situated in the Kings Cross area of London, one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in England with a large immigrant population and many disaffected young people. The Place aims to support them by offering a centre which can help them to integrate socially and culturally through dance and offers a chance to take advantage of a superb level of training that they would be unlikely to have access to otherwise. We offer every support we can to increase their chances of success, including measures such as heavily subsidised fees or even free classes, full disabled access, providing breakfast to the children who come in for early morning dance clubs and the chance to work alongside top professional dance companies as a way of increasing their aspirations.  Dance provides many of these young people with a creative outlet that becomes a major positive force in their life.

The Fund for Excellence
The Fund for Excellence (FFE) was established in 1975 to support student excellence and provide financial aid for students at London Contemporary Dance School suffering from financial hardship, which may jeopardize their training and education.  Each year, 30-40% of LCDS students need some level of financial aid. In 2006/07 (with the introduction of top-up fees), students will pay between £3,000 and £12,370 in fees - depending on nationality and degree-level - in addition to approximately £8,980 for housing/living expenses in London for 42 weeks.

To help students meet their financial demands, LCDS provides advice on budget management, loans and part-time work. However, the high physical and academic demands of LCDS programmes and the number of hours demanded by their training make it very difficult for LCDS students to hold part-time jobs that fully support their costs. Debt-repayment is challenging for LCDS graduates, as the earning capacity - even of the most exceptional dancers - is not high.

Your support would enable the exceptionally talented students at London Contemporary Dance School to continue to develop their talents in a nurturing and challenging environment, even in times of financial hardship.