An act of kindness by a graduating student from Beaudesert State High School (BSHS) will ensure the music program is able to be accessed by more students this year.
Caitlyn Ferguson, who graduated Year 12 in 2023 and is a founding member of the school’s contemporary music collective, Songbirds, put out a call out on social media for donations of musical instruments for the school.
Caitlyn and her mother Renae Gault who assisted with the project, were overwhelmed with the response from the community.
They spent their own time and money to collect the instruments from around South East Queensland as well as repairing the instruments to ensure they were ready for the students.
Caitlyn, who has been described by the school as an incredible musical talent, has a great love of music and feels the development of Songbirds has had a very positive impact on her and her schooling experience.
As a result of the community support, they were able to gift the school with approximately 20 guitars (including a seven string guitar) and bass guitars, a keyboard, as well as amplifiers to nurture the energy around music that exists in the school.
Caitlyn delivered the instruments to BSHS teacher Scott Charles and members of Songbirds who were emotional and visibly shocked.
“We talked to the community and we told everyone about you guys.”
“We wanted to get you something because you guys are awesome and we spent about a month getting these guitars for you.”
“It’s all for you guys.”
The value of the musical equipment donated is estimated to be in excess of $3,600.