Britain's Got Talent winner Tokio Myers to use prize money to build a music school

On Saturday night, pianist Tokio Myers was crowned this year’s winner of Britain’s Got Talent, and now the 32 year old has revealed that he plans to spend his £250,000 prize money in an incredibly generous way.

Instead of living it up in a round-the-world holiday, or even putting it towards a house, Tokio has admitted that he hopes to use the fund to set up a music school for deprived young people.

Speaking after the show’s final on Saturday night, Tokio explained: “I would love to be able to set up my own music school one day to mentor and inspire other people.

“If I get a real shot at being successful I would love to do talks at school.

“I want to push the boundaries and break stereotypes about classical music.

“We live in a time when you can no longer judge a book by its cover. It’s OK to be different – and I want to be at the forefront of that.

“I want to inspire people.”

Tokio previously opened up about his “rough” background, revealing that he witnessed the murder of headteacher Philip Lawrence back in 1995, when he was just 11 years old.

Mr. Lawrence was stabbed to death outside of St George’s School in Maida Vale, West London, when he tried to save a young pupil from a gang attack.

Recalling the horrifying incident, Tokio explained: “I was in the music room practising piano when the door gets kicked open and my teacher [Mr. Morgan] drags me off the stool.

“As I’m carried out I see my headmaster coming into the atrium next door. He escorts me out the back and just says ‘Just go home, go’.”

Paying tribute to his music teacher, Tokio continued: “I’ve grown up in rough backgrounds and estates and schools, so you do grow a thick skin.

“Looking at the people I grew up around, I’ve had people I went to school with who are no longer here today because they’re either literally dead or in jail. It’s still going on.

“Music and having that thing kept me out of a lot of trouble. I could have probably ended up in gangs, or been dead or in jail or whatever.

“Ever since that day I just feel like me and [Mr. Morgan] had some kind of bond, not just through music, but that moment.

“I don’t think he’d seen anything like that, I hadn’t seen anything like that. It resonated between the two of us. He’s not just a teacher, he’s an amazing guy and man and friend. He was a massive, massive influence.”

Poignantly, Mr. Morgan was in the live studio audience when Tokio won Britain’s Got Talent on Saturday night, with the musician winning over the public with his brilliant interpretation of the Romeo and Juliet balcony scene from the Baz Luhrmann film blended with Hans Zimmer Interstellar and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man’s Human.

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