Coralie

We awarded Coralie the funds to continue with her coaching at DMA.

Coralie says "I'm once again delighted to be receiving a Starr Award for another year, and cannot thank the team at the Starr Trust for continuing to support me through my transition to adult life. My acting school, DMA, is like a second family, providing me with support through an unpredictable and difficult industry, whilst also dealing with an unpredictable and difficult home life. Thanks to the support of the Starr Trust, DMA can continue to be my second home."

Coralie says:

"At the beginning of this year, I started the audition process for a major nationwide commercial, and after many auditions, I ended up booking the role! The commercial is for Vanish, the laundry detergent brand, in association with Ambitious About Autism. It follows on from last year, where Vanish partnered with Ambitious About Autism, to create a film to show the importance of clothes in Autistic people's lives.

I am so happy to say that the full film has now been released, and is being distributed currently."

The Starr Trust gave Coralie the funding to continue with her acting coaching.

Coralie says: "I am thrilled to be a Starr Award Recipient for another year, and cannot thank the Trust enough for their constant support. The award will allow me to continue to train at DMA, an elite acting school, that is essentially like my second family."

Coralie got in touch to let us know how she's been getting on since her Award was funded:

"It's been an incredibly busy few months, with A Levels taking over most of my life, but I've come out with A A A as my results, and have confirmed my place at the University of Cambridge in October - a dream come true!

Outside of school and academics, I've been getting on really well training with DMA, and Dominique is an amazing role model and mentor -very excited to be continuing my training with her through University. I feel that I've improved as an actor, but also as a creative overall, and I have found amazing friends there. They've really catered for my needs as an autistic and ADHD Actor, and are supportive of everything I do. DMA helped me sign with my first agency, Ardent Talent, a leading UK young person's agency, and I've had some brilliant opportunities through them. All in all, things are going very well, and I cannot thank the Starr Trust enough for the support. 

One of my most exciting upcoming projects is a short film called 'Wildheart', which I have written, will direct and star in, alongside another actor at DMA who is also neurodivergent. The script has been finalised, and we've almost completed casting. Our first stage of fundraising saw us raise over £1,000 via IndieGoGo, just over half our total budget for the film, and we are absolutely chuffed! The response to the initial concept has been incredible, and the film aims to change the way in which the industry views neurodivergence. We're on Instagram if you'd like to keep updated: @wildheartshortfilm

One of my other recent projects was directing ‘Parent Syndrome’, written by Chloe Smith, after my success as a Director with her previous film ‘A Courtesy Call’.

I've been very lucky to have received two awards from Christ's Hospital, one being the Catherine Morpurgo Theatre Scholarship, given to a student who has shown talent and exceptional ability in Drama/Theatre, and has shown this by gaining admission to a leading Theatre School. The second award I was given is called the Christ's Hospital Lodge Bursary, which is given to a student who shows need for the award, and has also significantly contributed to the school community, giving back to others, and taking on a leadership position. I have now left the school, and am glad I was able to start to give back in such a way. 

Finally, possibly one of my biggest and most recent successes. Earlier this year, my teacher had nominated me for the National Student Voice Award. This is a national competition, run by VotesForSchools, that celebrates young people and schools across the country, who use their voices to promote positive change in the community. I was completely chuffed to have even been nominated and thought of by my teacher and peers.
After reaching the final, it was announced at the beginning of July that I had won the competition, and named the 2023 National Student Voice Award Winner!The news was shared in The Week Junior, and also on their website: https://www.votesforschools.com/student-voice-awards/

Thank you for your ongoing support, it really has turned the trajectory of mylife around, and I look forward to many more years of working with the trust togive back what I have received."