Theatre company Les Enfants Terribles and leading drama school the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art have come together to launch a crowdfunding campaign to support a new student bursary, the LET Bursary.
The winning student will be without the financial means to attend drama school and the bursary will go towards their tuition fees and living costs whilst attending RADA's full-time professional acting course for one academic year.
Oliver Lansley, artistic director of Les Enfants Terribles, said, "with the gulf between richer and poorer growing ever wider in our society and the cost of drama schools having risen to over £9,000 a year, it is becoming increasingly hard for young people of less affluent backgrounds to be able to pursue their dreams of working in the arts.
"I set up Les Enfants Terribles when I was 19 years old. My parents were not in involved in the arts, my father was a builder and my mother worked for the NHS, and there was no way they could have afforded £30,000 for me to train as an actor. Fifteen years later, I see now how difficult it would have been for someone like me to get a foothold in this industry. I've been incredibly lucky. That’s why I feel it is essential for people in my position to help redress the balance and help support the next generation of artists.”
RADA graduate Katherine Kelly, is patron of the LET Bursary.