07 February 2018
Newsdesk
Craig David, Pixie Lott, The Wombats, Newton Faulkner, Dream Wife, and Femme have all pledged their support for Give a Gig Week 2018, Youth Music’s flagship fundraising initiative. They will be taking part in gigs across the world helping to raise funds for music-making projects for children and young people experiencing challenging circumstances. Give a Gig Week takes place from 16 – 25 March; last year’s initiative saw over 330 acts taking part in 119 gigs in venues across the country. The charity is calling for more musicians to join the week-long celebration of live music and fundraising.
This year, Give a Gig Week goes global with Craig David set to be part of the line-up with gigs in the United States. Craig David says: “I’m very happy to be part of Give a Gig Week from as far away as LA, where I’ll be making a donation from my shows there to support the great work Youth Music does. Music has transformed my life and I want all young people to have the chance to develop their musical creativity and achieve their ambitions. Youth Music has been providing these kinds of opportunities for years to young people facing difficult circumstances in their lives. I applaud the charity’s emphasis on diversity and gender equality, and share its belief that all young people should have access to music-making regardless of background, gender or circumstances. I wish Youth Music every success with Give a Gig Week and hope others will join me in supporting their valuable work.”
Pixie Lott, will be lending her support by curating a gig, organised with singer-songwriter Jocee; the night will feature fantastic new talent. Pixie said: “Youth Music and I share a common interest in giving young musicians an opportunity to develop their musical creativity and talent. The charity does great work supporting young people who face difficult challenges in their lives which is why I’m very happy to be taking part in Give a Gig Week.” Jocee will also be performing separately with her jazz band during the week at Ronnie Scott’s Bar.
The Wombats said: “By being involved in Give a Gig, you will help Youth Music ensure even more young people get access to life-changing music-making.”
As part of this year’s Give a Gig Week 100 choirs will descend on 10 major railway stations across England in a huge celebration of live music for Youth Music. Taking place on Saturday 24 March, the choir performances will span an array of genres from gospel through to rock, pop, classical and barbershop quartets. The choirs include the incredible Chaps Choir, Youth Music supported New Young Voice Collective, and the Trans Pennine Express Choir who are set to perform in both Manchester and Liverpool stations and the train journey in-between! Stations confirmed to take part are Birmingham New Street, Bristol Temple Meads, Leeds, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, London Waterloo, London Kings Cross, London Paddington, London Bridge and London Victoria.
NME has also pledged support for Give a Gig Week 2018, choosing Youth Music as the official charity partner for this year’s VO5 NME Awards at the O2 Academy Brixton on Wednesday, 14 February. NME will also be raising funds for the charity via a host of its VO5 NME Awards Shows taking place from January through March.
Give a Gig Week will be a nationwide music-making extravaganza, with the charity aiming to have at least 100 fundraising gigs taking place. Gigs can take place anywhere: be it a living room, the local pub, arena or a more unusual space. Getting involved is easy - anyone who is planning to put on a gig should register it at www.giveagig.org.uk where they will find a range of resources to help them make their gig an unmissable event, including guides on planning, publicising and fundraising.
Projects supported by Youth Music have recently featured prominently in the news following Prince Harry’s and Meghan Markle’s visit to Reprezent Radio in Brixton and the visit by Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge to Positive Youth Foundation in Coventry.
YolanDa Brown, chair of Youth Music said: “Many young people face barriers to making music because of their background, gender, or challenging circumstances such as living with poverty or mental health issues. By putting on a fundraising gig for Youth Music, performers can help us to ensure that young people in need get these life-changing opportunities. I’ll be supporting Give a Gig Week with my concert at the Basement in Sydney, on my tour of Australia, and I’ll be looking forward to hearing about the wonderful music events of all genres taking place back home.”
Give a Gig Week takes place nationwide from 16 – 25 March, 2018. To register your gig visit www.giveagig.org.uk
Follow Give a Gig Week:
Twitter: @giveagig #GiveaGigWeek
Facebook: www.facebook.com/giveagigweek
Instagram: http://instagram.com/give_a_gig
Online: www.giveagig.org.uk
