A TEENAGE singer from Warwick is hoping her musical talent can help endangered wildlife in Costa Rica.
Animal-loving Amy Jones has spent the last three years playing the guitar and singing her own songs and covers in local pubs.
The 16-year-old Myton School student – who plans to study marine biology at university – now hopes her talent can pay for her to pursue her dream and help endangered animals in Central America.
Amy, who will spend this summer working with volunteer group Frontiers – caring for everything from monkeys to turtles – said: “The trip will be my first abroad on my own and although it’s a daunting prospect I am really excited, and I will of course have my guitar for company.
“I need to raise £2,200 for the trip and I hope to do this through my music, which is a huge passion of mine. I’d love to fund one passion with another.
“I am working on a series of music events in coming months and all money from ticket sales will go to the cause.”
And it is not the teenager’s first time to fund-raise through music. She has previously held a number of gigs and even recorded a CD in aid of local charities 353 and The Mat Davis Foundation.
Amy – who credits her music-loving parents as her inspiration – first picked up a guitar when she was just seven-years-old.
She quickly started writing her own songs in a ‘story-telling’ style and learned how to play the piano, ukulele and violin.
It was at this young age she discovered the threat to dolphins, whales and turtles by over-development of the coast and decided she wanted to be a marine biologist.
She told the Observer: “The threat of animals becoming extinct is an issue I’m immensely concerned about and I have always had an interest in. I even went to the Canary Islands for work experience where I helped on a whale watching boat, which fuelled my passion and enthusiasm for marine biology even more.
“Nature, the sea and sunsets are a huge inspiration for me and a theme I constantly turn to in my songwriting. I believe by combining my two passions can help me achieve my dream of becoming a musical marine biologist.”
Visit www.facebook.com/amy.j.music for a list of gig dates or to donate.
