Published: 8 December, 2011
by JOHN GULLIVER

IT’S been a good week for heart-warming occasions but none more so than the gala party thrown on Sunday by the Belsize Park based “fame” school, WAC.

The event showcased  many projects run by WAC for hundreds of children and young adults from its Hampstead Town Hall base during the week and at weekends.

Exhilarating performances of music, dance and drama by the youngsters showed what young people are capable of.

Let us hope they continue to do so.

After going from strength to strength for more than 30 years, WAC was plunged into a struggle for its own survival last year when the Arts Council withdrew all of its funding.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation stepped in with a vital lifeline but £30,000 still needs to be found by March to ensure that all of its classes continue, particularly those aimed at 5-14 year olds.

“Children having fun is the hardest group to raise money for,” WAC’s directo Celia Greenwood (pictured) told me after the show.

“They are not rioting, they are all in education. What people don’t consider is what happens 10 years down the line.”