Charities we support

Since 1988, Martin Randall Travel has taken the view that a love of art, architecture and music carries a responsibility to help protect the places and institutions that sustain them.

Each year we support conservation, education and music-making in a variety of ways, currently with a continuing partnership with Venice in Peril. We have also instigated an exciting Charity of the Year initiative, through which we and our clients raise funds for a cause chosen annually by the company – our first is Orchestras for All.

Below you can read more about each organisation, watch short films about their work, and donate directly.

Martin Randall Travel's Charity of the Year is Orchestras for All, which exists to make orchestral music open to any young person who wants to play an instrument, whatever their circumstances. Many of us at MRT grew up with music as a formative part of our own lives, and the charity's aims struck a chord across the office.

MRT has set the office a target of raising a minimum of £1,000, which the company will match – and match again for anything raised beyond that. Within days of the initiative being announced, several colleagues had volunteered to form a Charity Committee, dedicated to dreaming up interesting ways to raise funds across the office. In September, OFA representatives will visit our office, giving staff the chance to meet them face to face and talk through ideas for how we can support the charity.

Take a Seat

There are 100 places in Orchestras for All's flagship programme, the National Orchestra for All (NOFA), each costing £5,000 a year to fund. Half are covered by grants; the rest by individuals and companies who “take a seat.” A fully funded place covers a young musician's place at NOFA – rehearsals, workshops and performances with world-class tutors and leaders – together with all accommodation, travel and meals, and an individual support plan tailored to that musician.

Clients wishing to take a seat, or find out more, are warmly invited to get in touch.

We donate a proportion of every MRT tour to Venice to the Venice in Peril Fund, the leading British charity dedicated to safeguarding the city's cultural heritage. Since its founding, the Fund has supported conservation, research, training and public engagement across Venice, its lagoon and historical territories.

Current and recent projects include:

• The Renaissance doorway and rose window at San Rocco, moved to the side of the church when its baroque facade was added in 1765
• Conservation of Palma il Vecchio's Madonna and Child altarpiece in the San Atanasio chapel at San Zaccaria
• Restoration of the 1802 organ by Battista Sono at the Scalzi Church, damaged by damp, age and neglect
• Research into the historic new-gothic walls and ground floor of Palazzo Soranzo van Axel
• Conservation of Renaissance maiolica at the Correr Museum
• A £1,000 donation towards the Canova monument in the Frari
• Restoration of Carlo Scarpa's watergate at the Querini Stampalia Foundation