Who we are

Springboard – Brighton & Hove Performing Arts Festival Ltd is a Registered Charity (no. 1078068), run by Trustees (see below), who are elected every three years at the AGM.

The Festival’s costs, which include the venue, the professional adjudicators, and a part-time administrator, are partly financed through the class entry fees, and by making an admission charge on the door for adults wishing to attend the Festival as members of the audience. (Those in full-time education can watch for free.)

Sponsorship from individuals is also vital to ensure that we cover our costs. (See our latest annual accounts here.)

The Festival is managed by a team of Trustees and a part-time Administrator. Each Section has its own Section Secretary and Committee (see below), who plan the syllabus and run the classes. The Festival also relies on the time and effort of dozens of volunteers.

“Springboard offers a warm-hearted structure through which it is possible to appreciate what can be achieved by sheer determination. Appreciation of artistic endeavour, and the making of Music and Drama, is a vital and intensely personal part of the extraordinary phenomenon that is the human being. As a race we may do some terrible things to one another, but the sensitivity and artistry encouraged by activities such a Springboard must bring hope and inspiration for the best that we may aspire to.”

Professor Gavin Henderson CBE
President – Springboard Festival

Patrons & Trustees

Patrons

President

Vice President

Trustees

  • Jannet King – Chair
  • Sue Goodacre– Company Secretary
  • Ali Hamie – Treasurer
  • Dr James Westbrook
  • Keith Hayward
  • Ambrose Page

Section Committees & Administration

Festival Administrator and safeguarding officer

  • Kathy Palmer

Classical Guitar

  • Dr James Westbrook (Secretary)
  • Vic Ellis
  • Lisa Fitzgerald

Singing

  • Birgit Miller (Joint Secretary)
  • David Stevens (Joint Secretary

MUSICAL THEATRE

  • Simon Gray
  • Rebekah Whiteley

Piano

  • Nicola Grunberg (Section Secretary)
  • Linda Bhattacharya
  • John Bruzon
  • Zhanna Kemp
  • Sophia Liu
  • Anthony Purkiss
  • Joe Ward

Speech & Drama

  • Mandy Winder (Section Secretary)
  • Rosie Drew
  • Nicola Patching
  • Sue Sheen
  • Kate Stoner
  • Rebekah Whiteley
  • Helen Hollingdale
  • Jasmine Jeffery
  • Vanessa Clarke
  • Claire Marlowe
  • Melody Roche

Strings

  • Jannet King (Section Secretary)
  • Lisa de Simone

Woodwind & Brass

  • Nicole Leclercq (Section Secretary)
  • Evelyn Harrison
  • Anna Tabor