Who would have thought we would have had to cancel all those trips back in 2020 and postpone many others (sometimes twice) as we all experienced the shocking consequences of a worldwide pandemic?
But in June 2021, the ‘touring tide’ finally started to turn for Rayburn and the students from Holy Trinity School as we finally managed to get them out on tour!
Original plans to embark on a 4 countries’ tour had to be cancelled twice, making Vikki Vincent and the Rayburn Tours team more determined than ever to make a tour happen in 2021.
Bring on their 2021 London tour in all its glory!
With year 11’s about to leave, the focus was on tailoring a trip that would comply with all the current guidelines, get them a performance they would never forget and, especially for non-performers in the group, schedule an itinerary of varied and exciting excursions.
Vikki Vincent, Head of Music at Holy Trinity School says, “In ‘normal times’ the school runs a hefty schedule of school trips. Obviously this was all thrown up in the air in 2020 with everything having to be cancelled. The school has and will always be passionate about providing wider experiences for students outside of the school environment – senior leadership teams and parents were fully behind us making this happen. We trusted Rayburn to guide us and create an itinerary that would help the students celebrate their time with us and get them back to performing to an appreciative audience.”
“The school have always historically taken a mixed group of performers and non-performers. Being a small school, it provides the opportunity to achieve the numbers required to make the trip financially viable and most importantly opens up the trip to a greater number of students to experience. We know how important it is for young people to enjoy the all-important residential school trip experience away from home. In London the performers performed, non-performers supported their friends and we all enjoyed exploring activities and excursions in London together. It was just fantastic! All the students needed it…”
On returning from tour many students and parents reported that it had been “the highlight of their young lives!”
Postponing Holy Trinity’s tour twice was a task in itself, but due to the relationships we had with suppliers this was indeed made possible and we were at the last hurdle indeed able to make alternative arrangements and tailor a tour to London, complying with all current COVID guidelines. It was with joint determination between us and the school that we were able to make this happen – and the outcome was worth every bit of work we had to do. Working on this tour and sharing their journey will hopefully highlight to other party leaders the very real nature of the one-to-one service we provide and illustrates the detail of our tailor made approach.
Holy Trinity, we thank you for trusting us with your plans – and good luck to your students who will shortly be moving on!