Bursary fund in memory of David Andrew to support young poets
The children of David Andrew, Lydia and Felix, are setting up a bursary aimed at supporting young poets, in memory of their father and mother. Felix said: “I work for a creative arts charity, Eastside, and amongst other projects we run national spoken word poetry programmes and competitions. My father, David Andrew actually helped proofread the manuscript of the published anthology of the I know I wish I will programme in 2019-20, leaving comments on the document about poets he felt had real promise, asking what ways they could be encouraged or supported.
“Following his sudden death on 5 March 2022, my sister Lydia and I wanted to find a way to honour his love of poetry but also the belief, encouragement and financial support that both our parents offered us to allow us to explore creative careers, something that all too many young people lack.
“Using a small part of their estate, we have decided to create a bursary / scholarship in their memory linked to Spoken Word Power, and other Eastside engagement programmes, to offer one promising young poet each year over the three years of the programme, support to develop that they may not otherwise get. Each bursary will be around £1,000 and will be used to offer mentorship, paid performance opportunities, travel to performance or training opportunities or support to publish their work, either in print or via professionally shot videos, created by the young diverse filmmakers of the Eastside Studios programme.
“The gift in memory will allow us to support one poet each year, but we would love to offer this opportunity to more poets, over more years, over more regions, so are looking to build the pot up to £8,000 + any gift aid contributions that will go towards Eastside and allow the staff time to run the programme effectively.
“Any donations large or small in memory of our parents and their creativity, generosity and kindness will be much appreciated by us and by those young poets. With all our thanks. Felix and Lydia.”
