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Katie Coyle to spend $3 million on charity schoolThe London-based singer/songwriter is looking to give back to the community she came from. Katie is set to invest heavily in giving back to the communityKatie Coyle has announced that she is set to spend a sizeable chunk of her self-made fortune over the course of the next few months in order to help give something back to the community in which she grew up through the building and running if a school designed to give young people skills that they may struggle to get elsewhere. The 20-year old, who is currently making her way around Australia with fellow pop superstar Nadia Berry as they complete the final leg of their huge three-month sell-out tour, said that the school would look to prevent a lot of the criminal activity that she saw many youngsters enter into when she was growing up by helping them learn a vocation.
Announcing the plans on her official blog, and via an interview with Channel 7 in Australia, the Take The Blame singer said that she would be spending 'at least $3 million' of her own money in the construction of the Katie Coyle School of Music, to based in the north of London, where she spent most of her childhood and early adult years. Following the building of the school itself, which will consist of 10 custom built studio rooms, 3 live performance rooms and various classrooms for theory work, Katie said she will also be spending 'as much money as it takes' to make sure the newly formed Katie Coyle Foundation can run to the maximum level it can.
According to the press release from the singer, the foundation itself will operate on three levels. On one side will be the charity work done by the school, which will be the primary function of the facility. This will allow children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as those who are not achieving in school, the opportunity to come along to the school for a set number of nights per week, where they will be able to learn a number of different musical instruments, taught by Katie's own hand-picked tutors. These children will also have the opportunity to learn song writing, and facilities will be provided for them to record free of charge if they want to try their hand at recording anything they write. They will also have the chance to hone their skills on the stage, hosting their own concerts in one of the three different sized performance halls.
Katie told Channel 7: "It's all about giving back. I'm not a stupidly extravagant person. I'm not big on like having a lot of fancy clothes, I don't drive, and it's only me and Lucas [her five month old son], so we don't need a big house. I also feel bad for the amount of money that I make sometimes, and so I thought about how I could put it to good use; this seemed like the best way to do it.
"Whether it's learning an instrument, learning how to write, or going into the Studio, 60 per cent of young people in London are not getting the chance to learn such vocational skills which could help them massively. I mean, if you learn to play guitar, I'm not saying everyone is going to record a million-selling album, but you could be anything from a session musician, to a guitar tech, or even a tutor. The chances that this could provide are endless.
"When I was young, although I had quite a privileged childhood and never wanted for much, there were a lot of kids in my school who weren't afforded the same opportunities, and many of them got into crime and trouble with the police before we had even left school. Part of the trouble can be if your mind just isn't academically suited. I was like that, I never learned much at school, but I was lucky to have my uncle Donald to teach me guitar, and I grabbed my chances from there. Again though, many kids don't have anyone to give them that chance, so I want to provide somewhere they can come for free and learn some new skills. There will be official Katie Coyle School certificates and everything, and hopefully it lets people feel wanted, worthy and proud. I just hope it helps them."
While that part of the operation will be run by the Katie Coyle Foundation, the school will also have another facility available. The as of yet unnamed academic side of the project will be looking to offer official training and qualifications at a university level to help bring more highly skilled individuals into the music industry.
"There are always artists looking for front of house people," Katie explained. "And what you find is that the number people with the genuine skills in sound and light production who are certified are actually short in number. So what the second part of the Katie Coyle school will be doing is letting people come here full time, for a cost, and achieve qualifications at university level in varying subjects. We hope to offer Bachelor degrees in live sound, studio recording, live lighting and hopefully one other initially, before branching out from there."
While the singer, who has recently enjoyed two weeks at number one with her single House of Cards, has vowed to spend as much time as she can at the new facility in order to oversee its operation, she has also admitted that there is no way she can be there full time without harming her career. As such, the 20-year old has brought in school friend Lara Vincent, a fellow Londoner, to run the business on a day to day basis, as well as getting involved in tutoring, recording and anything else that she sets her mind to.
Katie's childhood friend and businesswoman Lara Vincent will be taking charge of the facility
"Lara is a wonderful girl," said Katie. "We learned to play guitar together from my uncle, and we were best friends through school. We kinda lost touch after school though, because she was studying business at university in the daytime, and I was out playing gigs all night in pubs and stuff trying to make it. She will bring some great knowledge to this though, both musically and in terms of business. I wouldn't trust anyone more than I trust Lara to get this right. |
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