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How Jessie inspired over 30 years of making music

Jessie's Fund helps seriously ill or disabled children to communicate and express themselves through the power of music.

A cartoon of a child's bedroom, with a young girl with ginger hair and a pink dress playing a violin, with an image of music notes going out the door.
A smiling young woman with dark curly hair and a patterned dress holding a violin.

Our story

Inspired by Jessie

Jessica May George was lively, bright and musical, and just nine years old when she was suddenly diagnosed with a rare and inoperable brain tumour. Jessie’s Fund was established to meet the cost of treatment planned for her in the USA and was named by Jessie herself, but she died in May 1994, just five months after her diagnosis and before managing to travel to the States.

Jessie’s parents, musicians Lesley Schatzberger and Alan George, decided that Jessie’s Fund should become a charity dedicated to helping seriously ill and disabled children through music. Since 1995, Jessie’s Fund has grown into a nationwide charity based in York, supporting children in hospices, hospitals, schools, and community settings across the UK.

Our vision is for every child in the UK who is seriously ill or disabled to experience music as a form of expression, communication, learning and therapy.

Our mission is to help children who are seriously ill or disabled to express themselves and to communicate through music by connecting them and those who care from them with specialist musicians.

 

A cartoon of a woman in a spotted top playing the guitar next to the bed of young boy with ginger hair, with his parents stood by the bed. The mum has ginger hair and a blue dress and the dad has black hair and an orange t shirt. A nurse with a black ponytail and purple top is to the side.

The power of music

Creating harmony in the lives of seriously ill children

When Jessie’s Fund began, there were just eight children’s hospices in the UK – and none offered music therapy.

Today, thanks to the generosity of our supporters and the dedication of our partners, our musical impact reaches children in hospices, hospitals, schools and homes across the country.

Together, we’ve achieved so much

  • 12,000

    Music therapy sessions funded

  • 47

    Music therapy posts established

  • 300+

    Schools participated in our programme

A woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a blue and green patterned top.

Music is much more subtle and complicated than any spoken or written language, and if you can give children access to music, no matter what their difficulties, you’re giving them a chance to celebrate their humanity, their individuality, their energy, their creativity, their spirituality, their sense of fun. I know music can do all that – you can’t quantify it, you can’t write it down, you can’t say how it happens – you just know it does. These children’s lives may be limited in length, they may be limited in scope, but the benefit they get from music is unlimited.

– Victoria Wood, late Patron

Every note makes a difference

Every donation, event, and act of generosity helps us reach more children who struggle to communicate. Together, we can use music to unlock joy, connection, and confidence.

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