THE dedication of young violinist Faye Cullen and the hours of practice she puts in could count for nothing unless her parents, Irene and Jim, manage to raise £5,000 to nurture her talent.

Faye, a pupil at St Joseph's School, desperately needs £3,000 to buy a professional standard violin to replace the three quarter size one she currently uses.

She currently travels to London once a week to attend the primary section of the prestigious Royal Academy of Music.

Next year she moves to the junior section and needs £2,000 a year for fees and travel expenses.

Father-of-four Jim, from Windsor Road, Lawn, explained: "Faye has been playing for five years now, but it is getting a lot more expensive as she is getting older.

"She has reached the standard now where it is important for her development that she gets a new violin. The quality of sound is all important.

"At her level, she needs to have a new instrument to that she does not have to struggle with something the wrong size which produces a sub-standard sound."

But the Southern Electric accounts manager said it was very difficult to raise sponsorship for musicians of his daughter's age.

"We have set up a separate account to fund her music and we will do what we can to help her. She is very focused on what she wants.

"We try to pay for as much as we can from our own resources but as she gets older and more successful, the cost of learning the violin to such a high standard is becoming excessive and is inevitably affecting the other three children in our family.

"It is very difficult to get sponsors for younger players, because people tend not to treat them seriously."

Faye realised at an early age that the key to success as a professional musician is discipline and practice.

She said: "I try to practice about an hour and a half each day because I know that is the only way to get better.

"It can be hard work sometimes, but I do enjoy playing, especially when I am learning a new piece of music."

Faye, who also plays the piano and sings in a church choir, explained that she prefers to memorise a piece of music rather than playing from sheet music.

"I find that sheet music gets in the way.

"If I memorise the music, I can see it in my mind as I am playing it and I can concentrate on feeling the music. It comes out much better that way."

Faye's mother Irene explained that the whole of the family is musical to some extent, with Fiona, 14, Jayne, nine and Jimmy, seven, all having a similar interest in playing the violin and piano.

"It is something we all enjoy doing and sometimes the noise level does get pretty loud in the house.

"I think it is important that we encourage Faye to follow her interest.

"We support her but we also believe it is important for her to maintain a balance between music, schoolwork, her family and play.

"But she is probably the most dedicated musician of all of us."

The Cullen family are keen to hear from individuals, businesses or organisations who can help sponsor Faye.

They can be contacted on 01793 431885.