Our Organisation, people and policies.

LSF-UK is a registered charity managed by five trustees, all of whom are professional Luthiers with many years of experience. We have no paid staff.

Additional volunteers are recruited for our teaching missions.

Our Trustees

John Milnes

Chair

John worked as a violin maker/restorer in Oxford and more recently has done research and written books on the history of violins and bows. He joined the Belgian branch of LSF in 2001 and visited Cuba several times before helping to found the UK branch of LSF in 2007.

Colin Garrett

Treasurer

Colin lives in Hertfordshire where he works as a luthier. As well as being treasurer of LSF-UK, Colin is a very successful fundraiser and is also a trustee of the Rowan Armour-Brown Trust.

Keith Graves

Secretary

Keith has been a professional violin maker and restorer for over 35 years and works from his workshop in West Sussex. He teaches Violin Making and Restoration two days a week at Merton College in Morden. Keith has volunteered for LSF in Uganda and Antigua. 

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Sarah Beaton

Trustee

Sarah works a a luthier at the Royal Academy of Music in London where she helps to conserve some of the world's most precious instruments. Sara also works in her own Lutherie workshop in Surrey and recently volunteered in  Malawi with LSF-UK.

Rob Cain

Project Development

Rob taught for many years at the Newark School of Violinmaking and some LSF missions have included current or graduating students. Rob’s role is in developing missions as well as volunteering in Haiti, Afghanistan, the Philippines and Malawi.

Volunteers
Since 2008 fifteen different volunteers have taken part in missions. The mission is always lead by an experienced volunteer and usually one other person who could be another professional luthier, a graduating student luthier or a current student depending on the needs of the mission. 

Internships
We are currently exploring the idea of taking an intern on missions. This could be a student who is willing to part-fund their trip in order to gain valuable experience.

Our Policies
We are constantly learning how to run a charity and to keep up with changing legislation. 

More information to come.

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