In March 2020 the whole world was turned upside down by Covid-19. London ground to a halt and even the formidable Royal Albert Hall closed its doors after 150 years of full houses. Unthinkable. We were all gutted to be without our British Suzuki Gala on April 12th 2020.
 
I am so sorry that this letter has taken so long to write.
 
The Royal Albert Hall has refunded the Gala audience tickets. However, every effort to negotiate with our insurers some sort of rebate for the huge costs we incurred up until the very late cancellation (days before the event) has sadly been unsuccessful.
 
We had already paid for considerable extra administrative staff, invested in child safeguarding measures and Royal Albert Hall fees. We bought equipment and instruments, printed thousands of T-shirts, prepared programmes and commissioned original compositions and transcriptions for the children and the orchestra.  All through the planning, the BSI teachers were working tirelessly for months, for free.
 
We will use the commissioned music for the next Gala. However, despite our best efforts we were not able to recoup costs. I am very sorry that I am not writing with better news. It was a huge sadness for me personally, and for our whole community.
 
Like Arts Organisations all over the world, our charity has been badly affected by Covid. We are suffering, but we know that lots of our families and friends are suffering too. In this spirit we will make every effort to organise a partial rebate for any parent that requires it. We are looking at ways to fundraise to support this endeavour. However, if you feel you do not need to ask for any money back from registration, we would be relieved and grateful. To express your preference, choose from the buttons below. Please let us know by 14 January 2021. If we don’t hear from you by this date, we will assume you are happy to donate your registration fee.
 
Looking towards the future, in April 2021 I am planning to reapply to the Royal Albert Hall to book for the next British Suzuki Gala on Easter Sunday, 4th April, 2023. We hope to see you all there then.
 
Stay well and healthy.
 
Thank you for your consideration,
Helen Brunner
Director of the Gala committee