The final call.. no really.. this IS the final call!

Having lived and breathed our Building a Sound Future campaign, along with all of you, for the last 3+ years it seems almost counter intuitive to issue a final call for support .. but this really is it!

The full extended target of £6.3M has been met, all 100 roundels of our Apollo campaign have been sponsored and the final piece of the jigsaw, this crowdfund appeal, which launched on November 28 last year, will close on September 29 this year!

Thanks to all of your incredible support over the last 10 months this campaign alone has raised £62,624 of actual cash donations, matched 100% by our generous crowdfund backers, and with an additional £12,595 of gift aid, so contributing a whopping £137,843 to the overall appeal.  

While we still have funds to raise (we will always have funds to raise!), we felt a clear end point to be essential, and what better way to welcome artists, audiences, students and all visitors back to St George's for the new season ahead than with the incredibly exciting news that the Appeal is absolutely and finally complete!

Building works will continue through the Autumn, but with the hall intact, we are able to present a full programme of concerts throughout the Autumn. When you arrive for concerts you will see significant progress on all fronts - the new extension is now rapidly taking shape, the crypt works are well advanced as are the stonework restoration works to the front pennant steps and boundary walls. 

The £6.3M raised covers the completion of all of these essential works. What it doesn't completely cover are all of the finishing touches and final fit out of all the wonderful new flexible spaces which will be such a feature of the new St George's once we unveil the new extension and officially relaunch the venue in late February 2018. 

This final call is set to raise a final £10,000 to contribute towards those finishing touches - from the cost of paint to redecorate the hall, new window blinds, new orchestra chairs and a new lighting desk and pa system are some of the bigger items on that list. We are seeking support from local and national companies to help with in-kind sponsorship, and if you can continue to share the campaign right up to our close date in just 3 weeks, we are sure to get there, and to reach a very respectable £150,000 final total for this, our very first crowdfund appeal.

Here are just a few recent images of how the building works for the new extension over the summer closure period have already transformed the space: 

Elevation from Great George Street

The position of the glass ceiling corridor linking the new extension to the main building, and the first floor slab of the new extension now in place. 

Thanks to each and every one of you for all of your contributions to enabling this transformative development project to go ahead, and if you can help us reach this final, final target (we promise!) and round off the crowdfund at £150K that would be just amazing.

We draw the winner of the Golden Ticket (entry still available for all new £100 donations!) at the first concert of the new season, the Brodsky Quartet, on September 29, where we will officially declare the overall Appeal target met and this crowdfund appeal closed.

Thank you again for all your support and look forward to welcoming you all back here very soon.

ps. The opportunity to name a chair in the auditorium remains, and still features as our £250 pledge reward!!