A trumpet donated to Macclesfield Youth Brass Band is on its way to Kenya as part of the band’s international community project to support young musicians at the Starehe School in Nairobi.

Working alongside

Working alongside The Martyn Donaldson Music Trust, a Macclesfield based charity that supports a number of music projects both in the UK and abroad, the members of Macclesfield Youth Brass Band met with a visiting party of students from the school and presented them with the instrument to take home to Africa.

This presentation marks the launch of a new MYBB project called InterACT to support Starehe School in Nairobi by helping to supply them with instruments and equipmentLouise Renshaw

Donation

The trumpet was donated by a friend of band member Alice Waterhouse. As it is not a standard brass band instrument it was agreed with the donor that the trumpet could passed onto this worthy cause.

The band aims to track the progress of the trumpet on its journey out to Kenya and then find out what happens to it when it reaches the school.

Presentation

The presentation took place at the Bollington Transport Extravaganza where the band was performing and they were joined by the boys from Starehe School who wowed the audience with their outstanding a cappella singing.

The school has a strong tradition in music and many students reach a high standard very quickly. One such example was amongst the visiting boys, one of whom had reached grade 5 standard on piano in under 18 months.

Project launch

MYBB Musical Director Louise Renshaw told 4BR, "This presentation marks the launch of a new MYBB project called InterACT to support Starehe School in Nairobi by helping to supply them with instruments and equipment."

Louise added: "The boys we have met this week are absolutely amazing and have been excellent ambassadors for their country. The next step of our project involves establishing regular communication links between the two sets of students which will give our members the opportunity to learn all about life in Africa."

Only school

Starehe is the only school in Kenya that provides free secondary school education and it relies on sponsorship and help from abroad to do so. Each year over 20,000 students apply for just 200 places.