Farewell and thank you to Julie

After serving Arts Taunton for 9 eventful years, Julie O’Donnell stepped down from the board of trustees this month.

Julie joined Arts Taunton (AT) in the very early days (2015) when we were still a limited company trying to reconstitute as a charity. The process was long and fraught with setbacks and it is only thanks to Julie’s indefatigable determination that we succeeded.

Julie was Chair of the Board for a good many years but stepped down from this when her role in supporting our new youth festival  (TYCA) became too demanding. Julie spearheaded the festival for five years seeing it through many iterations and eventually developing into a well-respected and effective youth festival that is run by young people, for young people, This year the festival reached over 3,000 young participants.

In her farewell to the organisation Julie said:

“ The years with AT have certainly been an interesting chapter in my life and I really do hope that funding can be found to continue with the initiatives, and you’d expect me to say, TYCA in particular. I take pride in the fact that we managed to facilitate a youth festival for so many years, overcoming numerous obstacles. Hopefully many young people’s lives have been enriched by the opportunities afforded them by Arts Taunton. Thank you once again for your support and friendship over the years – I’ve certainly enjoyed working with you and benefiting from your wise counsel and, at times challenges!”