We are closing until further notice

The Blackheath Conservatoire is shutting its doors until further notice

It is with sadness that the Board of the Conservatoire have decided to shut the Conservatoire down from the end of the day on Friday 20 March until further notice.

We know our staff, tutors and customers will understand why we are doing this, following the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday that schools will close, reflecting the need for all social contact to be reduced for wider public safety. Keeping our staff , tutors and learners healthy and safe has to be our top priority.

We will keep the situation under review, but the signals from Government are that closing schools is likely to be followed by other measures to reduce social interaction.

The current situation means that, like for other arts charities, the coming weeks and months will be very difficult financially. We receive the majority of our income from our classes, and not being able to provide them has serious implications for our finances. This will also have an immediate effect on our excellent staff and freelance tutors. We are therefore asking if any of our students who feel able to, would consider donating some of their fees for the end of Spring Term, Easter holiday term and Summer Term classes to us. This would help significantly to our efforts to allow the Conservatoire to recover and continue supporting the community in the years to come. We are also considering setting up a Justgiving page in case our wider community is able to offer us any more support.

In the meantime, we are working to see if there is any possibility of providing lessons safely, albeit in a different format, during this unprecedented period. We will keep you up to date with developments on this.

Everyone’s thoughts are rightly with those affected by this terrible virus, and those struggling to treat those who have it and contain it from spreading. We need to make our contribution to this effort. We send everyone in the community our best wishes and hopes that you can stay healthy at this difficult time.

The Board,

The Blackheath Conservatoire

March 19, 2020