Mother aims to raise £90,000 for autistic daughter’s ballet school fees

Constance Bailey has been dancing since the age of five

Constance Bailey performs a ballet routine (Constance Crazy Bailey/YouTube)

A mother from Leeds is calling on the public to help raise money to send her autistic daughter to one of the UK’s four dance boarding schools.

Single parent Laura Bailey is aiming to raise £90,000 so that 13-year-old Constance may attend The Hammond School, where fees amount to £30,000 per year.

Due to her autism, Constance does not “fit into an ordinary school”, her mother said and needs vocational education and training.

A ballet dancer, Constance has been offered a place to join the year nine class at the Hammond in September, but Bailey is unable to afford the fees.

Bailey told The Guardian that she began crowdfunding after the school offered to help cover costs if she could raise half of the fees.

“I am a single mum in a council flat. I work full time in a low-paid NHS job.

“I do not get maintenance from my ex-husband, this is simply impossible for me to afford,” she wrote on the crowdfunding page.

She initially approached both the Leeds council and central government, but neither could offer any financial help.

The government provides a number of bursaries for students aged between 8 and 19 to attend some dance schools across the country, including The Hammond, but Constance was not granted one of these.

Bailey told The Guardian Constance is “classically female autistic, in that she is a bit away with the fairies at times, and for someone who loves performing, she doesn’t like being in crowded spaces. She prefers to be on stage.”

She first started dancing after she watched “The Nutcracker” at the age of five.

She currently attends a school of more than 1,600 pupils, but her mother believes she will excel at the Hammond, which has just 300 students.

Since Bailey’s pledge was reported by The Guardian, more than £74,000 has been donated to the fundraising page.

“Just wow! The impact of the media,” Bailey wrote in an update, adding that she had increased the target to £90,000 in the hope of raising enough money for three years of education.

“Thank you so much for your support and beautiful messages to us both we are truly humble and will be eternally grateful,” she said.