Welcome to the Yorke Trust!

 

When I gathered together a small group of friends in the 1980s to help realise a groundbreaking project to teach children the double bass, none of us ever dreamt that our efforts would have had such an impact. With financial help from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation we were able to commission small equipment and train teachers throughout the country. Many young children who began playing as part of the Yorke Mini-Bass Project in 1985 now hold important positions in orchestras throughout the world, and many more are teaching.

The opportunity for Trustees to purchase two properties in Norfolk with a generous legacy from my late mother’s estate literally opened new doors. Today our work has moved into new pastures, and singing has become the focus of the many activities you can read about on this website.

 

 

 

 

 

In common with most small charities in the challenging economic climate of our times, fundraising has become an increasingly vital part of our work. If you share my optimism and believe that our achievements merit support, you will find ways in which you can help us reach our target of £1M by 2011, our twenty-fifth anniversary year.

 

Thank you for taking the time to find out about our work.

 

Please contact us if we can help you in any way. However, we are unable to make unsolicited financial awards of any kind, either for instruments or for study, so enquiries of this kind are discouraged.

 

 

 

Rodney Slatford, OBE
Chairman of Trustees