there are 1,'000's members here maynof whom "lurk" and don't post - if they could just sign and share - think how many signatures that would be!!!
sadly a well know casting director won't sign and share as he feels we are all asking for handouts and the "middle classes" don't deserve equality and access to the same opportunities others have, that's really not what this is all about.
Last edited by riverdancefan on Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Tall and proud my mother taught me, this is how we dance" - RIVERDANCE
Is it worth tweeting it to some influential tweeters from the world of performing arts? I bet you'd get some retweets and maybe some signatures from them too.
Unfortunately, I'm up to my quota of tweets for the day after sending many tweets:( However, please feel free to share and spread the word with as many people as you can!
We're up to 340 signatures on the petition so keep spreading the word!
Though we are years behind you, dd only 9 - I am also outraged that once again the Arts and particularly young people with their educational strength in the Arts are being marginalised. I am all for children with less income to have assistance to persue their dreams - looking at this we would be just above the assistance line but definately unable to afford the fees. There has to be something wrong somewhere where the middle ground children miss opportunities in the Arts because they are unaffordable and only available to the very rich or very poor............give me strength!
The contributions under a DaDA are now published and depending on your family income it depends on your contributions based on your gross income. Under the old DaDA system, everyone contributed £1,350. Under the new changes, we will pay £2,650. This does not take into account your outgoings (bills, mortgage etc) or other children. It also doesn't take into account maintenance costs (board and food). Outside London add approx £9,000pa to this and in London £11,000. Therefore, we will have to pay near enough £15,000 because of uniform, shoes, trips etc. There are no opportunities to access student loans or maintenance loans and because we are over the threshold of £33,000 we get no help with maintenance which even on a low income would not be enough even if we were on a low enough income. We also lose child benefit because the courses are considered a 'higher level than A levels' but apparently not high enough to warrant student loans:( Our income is below £50,000pa gross.
We have 2 children both auditioning for 2014 entry. Can we afford 1 daDA - um, no and definitely not 2!
We are now looking at overseas training as we have no choice:(
We have over 400 signatures on the petition now. I've been blocked on Twitter from sharing the petition (so much for freedom of speech and I have no idea why as the petition isn't abusive). This means we have to get the word out to as many people as we can without using this medium. Any ideas??
I'm approahing my local press as the first step....perhaps we can all do this? Please don't give up now or think we can't make a difference.....its got to be worth a try!
There are a still a lot of people unaware how this might impact them in the future ...
The means test is very unfair If there are two working parent in the same house who are paid via PAYE and therefore cant offset their tax etc via self employment or business they could loose out on funding but someone who runs their own business and perhaps where the parents are split can still benefit when in real terms their disposal income available to help the child could in fact be higher.
Not explaining myself well but when they were giving out EMA my girls lost out where as some of their friends were getting PMA plus pocket money off dad who lived elsewhere and pocket money of mum and two holidays. We have not had a holiday for quite a few years mainly because of the money that would have gone on holidays has gone on dancing costs -no regrets to this but the money spent certainly did not add up to the sums we now need to find if our son is able to attend DADA funded course ....
If you dont buy a ticket how can you ever expect to win !!
I think that a lot of people here are missing the bigger picture because the change affects them directly. There are many, many more people that think healthcare, education for all, policing etc etc are more important than the performing arts. People are missing that there are a lot of talented aspiring sportsmen out there that get no state funding at all to help them fulfil their dreams of becoming olympic medalists. In fact, most young people have a dream - those in the performing arts world are unique in getting any government support at all. At the end of the day it is a choice - and yes, these schools are fee paying private schools.
And before you all jump down my throat, I have a child already on MDS who will be directly affected by these changes. I just think that we need to look at it from a wider perspective.
and don't post - if they could just sign and share - think how many signatures that would be!!! 
!
