September 26th, 2007Former pop star will teach music for charity trust
A SUPERMARKET is paying to provide a music teacher for an Epsom charity’s Friendship Scheme.
Andy Hunn, manager of Waitrose in Epsom, took the £2,600 cheque along to St Barnabas Church Hall where the Ebbisham Association’s Friendship Scheme for people with severe learning difficulties meets.
Mr Hunn was delighted the money was being used provide a music teacher for the Wates Club, which entertains the clients, many of whom are from the former Epsom mental hospitals.
He added: “As a local organisation Waitrose is proud to be associated with the scheme and will continue to give support.”
Waitrose already supplies the refreshments at the Wates Club, which is named after the local building company thatinitially contributed funds to enable the club to get started.
And Waitrose’s latest donation has meant that Tom Rhind-Tutt, the chairman of the Ebbisham Trust, was able to secure professional music teacher Tom Arnold.
He has offered to lead the musical enhancement activities with a variety of percussion instruments and his songwriting abilities.
Mr Arnold is a full-time professional musician and plays with the new production team from Stomp, aptly named The Lost and Found Orchestra.
The orchestra boasts 35 performers who play an assortment of miscellaneous instruments made from oil drums,old kettles, wash boards and other household items.
This year they have played in numerous famous locations,including a season at the Sydney Opera House and the Brighton Dome.
Tom was also a member of the group Cutting Crew who had a top 10 hit in the eighties with I Just Died in your Arms Tonight. He has also played with the Brighton Beach Boys.
Previously he worked at the Orpheus Centre in Godstone for people with severe physical impairment and is now looking forward to his stint with Ebbisham.
The Friendship Scheme seeks to recruit and introduce suitable volunteers to the patients of the former Epsom mental institutions with a view to them forming a friendship together.
In some cases the patients’ own relatives are either too old to visit or have died.
The association also offers a range of activities including various entertainment facilities including drama, music, art and general socialising.
As a registered charity,the association is independent of Government and official influences. From the start, the borough was supportive of the association and allowed it the name Ebbisham, which is the medieval name for Epsom.
