PAGe tItLe sPIRIt It’s a kind of magic Over 115 years after the first rattle of an RnLi collecting tin in manchester, Rory stamp discovers how young musicians are ensuring that the charity still strikes a chord in the city ‘there’s a great heroism about the kind of work that the RnLi do and, of course, the voluntary ethos – which i think young people can learn a great deal from.’ A pupil hurries along a dark corridor, passing rough stonework walls and old, heavy oak doors. As his footsteps echo through the passageway, he quickens his pace, worried that he won’t make his next lesson on time … It sounds like a scene from a best-selling book about a certain young wizard, but this is actually a glimpse of real life at Chetham’s School of Music, in the heart of Manchester. Some of the finest young musicians in the country are taught here, and the magical sounds they create help raise RNLI funds.

The boys and girls of Chetham’s regularly perform for the public in the school’s unique 15th century buildings; the medieval surroundings seem to amplify the spellbinding effect of the music. But the school hasn’t always been all about conjuring crotchets and semiquavers. When the wealthy city merchant Humphrey Chetham died in 1653, he left money in his Will to buy the buildings, stipulating that they should be turned into a school for 40 ‘poor boys’. He also bequeathed funds for part of the site to be converted into a library for scholars, which is still used today and is the oldest surviving library in England.

After centuries of continuing its benefactor’s vision, Chetham’s became an independent grammar school in the 1950s and began to earn a national reputation for producing excellent musicians. This was recognised in 1969 when it became a specialist music school. The principles behind Humphrey Chetham’s legacy were not forgotten, though: the most promising of today’s young musicians can attend the school regardless of their financial background. The school’s charitable ethos is reflected in the support it shows for another historic institution: the RNLI. ‘Humphrey Chetham left this fantastic legacy to support people,’ explains the school’s Director of Music, Stephen Threlfall. ‘And that created a strong tradition of benefaction here, which I think fits in well with the charity.

While I wouldn’t say the school “rescues” people these days, we certainly offer them opportunities, regardless of where they’ve come from. There are some humanistic parallels between us and the RNLI that, I think, make our relationship very special.’ He adds that he has always supported the charity: ‘There’s a great heroism about the kind of work that the RNLI does and, of course, the voluntary ethos – which I think young people can always learn a great deal from.’ It was Stephen’s admiration for the RNLI that led to Chetham’s first fundraising concert in aid of the charity in 2002. Since then the pupils have raised thousands of pounds, and learned about the RNLI’s rescue and sea safety work. Lifeboat crew members have visited the school to talk to pupils and, in October 2006, Chetham’s even hosted a special fundraising reception in its Baronial Hall. ‘It was a fantastic event,’ remembers Viv Featherstone, RNLI Regional Education Manager for North England. ‘Some of the pupils played for us in the hall and the music was just outstanding. It was part of Manchester lifeboat week, and they really helped make it a success. The money they’ve raised is enough to train five crew members.’ Viv was so grateful for Chetham’s support that she nominated the school for an RNLI Supporters Award in the Youth 13–18 Category; an award that they went on to win. The RNLI’s President, HRH The Duke of Kent, presented the award to Stephen and some Chetham’s pupils at the Barbican in London in May 2007. ‘It’s great for the school to win the award,’ says 18-year-old pupil and violinist Joe Devalle. ‘And for us it’s also been great to be able to use something we enjoy doing to help a charity like the RNLI.’ By taking part in lifeboat week, Chetham’s pupils were supporting a Manchester fundraising tradition that began in 1891, when the world’s first charity street collection took place in the city in aid of the RNLI. The collection was arranged in memory of a lifeboat disaster 5 years earlier in which 27 lifeboatmen from Southport and St Annes died while trying to rescue sailors from the stricken vessel Mexico. With a sense of charity not unlike Humphrey Chetham’s, the wealthy local industrialist Sir Charles Macara was concerned for the widows and children of the crew members lost. He organised the collection in aid of them, which raised £5,500 – a very large amount of money at the time – and in doing so laid the foundations of fundraising as we know it today. In the following years, ‘Lifeboat Saturdays’ in Manchester saw lifeboat crews visiting the city to help raise funds.

More than 115 years on, the collection buckets will be out once again on 22 October for the beginning of the 2007 Manchester lifeboat week. The lifeboat making an appearance in the city this year will be rather different from the wooden pulling vessels that were once wheeled through the streets. A new Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat will be named and accepted into the RNLI’s relief fleet as part of the week’s events. And what better location in Manchester for the naming ceremony than the enchanting surroundings of Chetham’s School of Music? .