An anonymous benefactor has stepped in last-minute to save The Music Boutique from closure in the Kennington, writes Pablo Munoz…
The nearly £80,000 was loaned so that the rent arrears debt of £52,824.16 and the £27,000 of legal costs to the landlord, could be paid in full for the popular school on the historic Lambeth Walk.
The debt grew during the COVID pandemic as a result of a complete halt to lessons, despite the continued requirement to pay rent and interest to the landlord, Watmos, a housing association that aims to provide affordable housing and community development.
When contacted, a spokesperson at WATMOS said: “We will always seek to work with organisations with rent arrears however we can to resolve any issues.
“In some instances we do need to take action to address long-standing arrears, and act in a way that is fair to all our other social housing and commercial tenants.
“We are pleased that the situation has been resolved with the venue, and they can remain at the property.”
The Music Boutique, although a solvent, functioning school again after COVID-19, could not face the large lump sum all at once. They set up a crowdfunder to repay the full debt by 11th March. The effort even received the vocal support of local resident and two-time BAFTA winner Adeel Akhtar, whose children attend this school.
In the nick of time, the loan from the unknown donor saved the school from being evicted. Just hours before the loan came in, the crowdfunder had collected £18,000, and James Osho, the school’s founder, said had planed to use the cash to relocate. However, the loan has temporarily saved the school from relocating, but the debt will still need to be repaid, which is why the crowdfunding campaign is still open for anyone who wants to contribute.
Osho said: “The loan still needs to be repaid—so the crowdfunder remains open and every donation still matters.”
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The Music Boutique is nearly 30 years old and is housed in two former shops providing as a cosy, safe space for child-led music tutoring. It prides itself on letting children choose their own pace and instruments.
Osho, as he is warmly known to locals, is a former special needs teacher and furniture designer who has an eye for curious vintage artefacts. The school is well-known in the area for the many different music-related artefacts to be found inside from countries such as Trinidad, St Lucia, Ghana, Colombia and the Gambia the school focuses on intuitive and bespoke learning experiences, often incorporating puppets and vintage toys to engage young pupils.
POS-COLONIAL collection of artefacts at The Music Boutique. Photo by Jack Merriman.
The crowdfunding is still open, and people can donate in the link bellow:
