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Author Topic: Coming out of the shadows  (Read 35637 times)
Junior Senior
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« Reply #180 on: September 17, 2012, 08:59:37 PM »

In for sure. I am a type 1 diabetic too so charity close to my heart. Grantham down the road too.
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AdamM
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« Reply #181 on: September 17, 2012, 09:06:26 PM »

I didn't explain it very well.
Diabetes Research is more in the catagory of charities that needs millions.
I was hoping the local Barnardo's fund raiser has something specific and local I can make a difference to.
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« Reply #182 on: September 17, 2012, 09:11:44 PM »

I didn't explain it very well.
Diabetes Research is more in the catagory of charities that needs millions.
I was hoping the local Barnardo's fund raiser has something specific and local I can make a difference to.

Oh ok, in whatever. Good luck with it
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AdamM
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« Reply #183 on: September 17, 2012, 09:12:34 PM »

cheers mate
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« Reply #184 on: December 10, 2012, 09:39:13 AM »


Now that's out of the way I can start the next major project: Give my 40th Birthday to charity.

What happened was this, early in the year there was a knock at the door by a Barnardo’s tin rattler. I was about to politely decline and close the door when I paused. Partly because the girl giving her prepared pitch was very easy on the eye, but also because I'd had it in the back of my mind for a while that I don't do enough for good causes. Other than the odd fiver for Comic Relief / Children In Need, or leaving my change in the shop / bar for whatever 'blind box' they have. So I listened to the pitch and signed up for a tenner a month. It's a start, but still pretty small really. My birthday had not long passed. I’ve always though greetings cards were a waste of money as they’re overpriced and they  just sit on a shelf for a week and go in the bin, plus the shirts / sock / cds / etc that people buy,  I could just have bought for myself. It all adds up. "What if I gave my birthday to charity?" I thought. Must add up to a couple of hundred quid for a big one like a 40th.

That’s where the idea started, but it’s started to grow a bit. I thought; maybe I could have a party. Dynamite Billy could play a set, we could pass a bucket around for the chosen charity. Anyone that wanted to buy me a drink could stick a couple of quid in the bucket. That’d add up too. I could get musicians from other bands I’ve played with over the last 22 years of gigging to do a song or two with us. That’s where it’s taken a jump in proportions. I started to plan out the set, and who I would get to do what songs and it looks amazing on paper.

What I’m now thinking of doing is booking the refectory of the local college which I think holds around the 500 people mark, getting their stage set up, trying local equipment hire company to provide lights, PA and an engineer for free, getting a bit of local press involved, the works. Thought I could get the college’s visual arts department to film it, and perhaps some of the run up to it. For posterity and maybe sell a few copies if it turns out any good. £5 a ticket, plus rattling the tins at the bar / during the set, we could easily raise a few grand.

When it comes to picking a charity, I was a bit unsure what to do. My Dad and Sister are both type 1 diabetics, so Diabetic research that was an obvious choice. Also, my Dad just had a quadruple heart bypass, so again, British Heart Foundation jumped out a bit. However, what I don’t want to do is chuck a couple of grand into the pot for a charity that raises millions a year. What I’d rather do is make a specific difference to a local campaign. Also, maybe it’s to do with being firmly middle aged now, but I’m starting to think a lot about childrens charities and the next generation as quite important. Perhaps another reason I let the Barnardo’s girl finish her pitch. So what I’ve done is contact the local fund raiser for Barnardo’s to see if we can come up with something specific for me to fund raise for.

It takes the diary completely off-topic for poker, but then, I’m hardly playing at the minute any way. Thought I might put a few details of this on here as it develops.

March 9th 2013 is the date. So I make that 26 weeks to get it organised. Exactly half a year as it happens. Getting excited about it just typing.


Started to make a bit of progress with this.
I spoke to a local company called East Midlands Sound and Light about them providing lights and PA, and got a bit more than I bargained for. It turns out the guy who owns that company was in the process of taking over a Grantham bar and turning it into a live music venue, complete with top quality house PA and lighting rig. We’re booked in at “Infernos LIVE” for 9th March 2013. Capacity is 550 and we’re going to do our best to fill it.

Spoken briefly to the local rag, and they’re keen to get involved nearer the time.

Charity chosen. I spoke to the local Barnardo’s fund raiser and she ran me through a few very worthy sounding  projects they’re working on, but when she got to the one below, I knew straight away it was the right choice. A local organisation called SoundLINCS, working in partnership with Barnardo’s and the Lincolnshire youth trust have a project called SoundBOOST. It aims to improve the life chances of young adults and children who are living in very challenging circumstances. Initially 16-21 year olds leaving the care system are taught to play instruments, compose their own material and perform it. The benefits are wide ranging, from simply increasing confidence and making social connections, through to developing skills and attributes that can go on a CV or lead to employment opportunities. The second phase is that the participants of the project can then go on to mentor 11-16 year olds still in the care system. It’s a fantastic opportunity to use music to improve the prospects of kids that, through no fault of their own, have started out life at a disadvantage.

I break up for Christmas on Thursday 20th December and on Friday 21st I’m going to drive out to Lincoln to meet the guy who runs it and find out a bit more about what they do and come up with some ideas on how to spend the money I raise. My initial thoughts were that we could be buying instruments or paying for the continued tuition of the kids after they leave the programme. I know only too well how expensive decent musical equipment is. I struggle to buy a new guitar when needed and I’m in a decently paid job. I imagine it’s next to impossible for these guys to get kitted out. I’m pretty tempted to get involved myself as a volunteer. I’ve got a fair bit of experience as a song writer and performer, and I used to teach guitar in my 20’s. Would be great to get involved with some of their sessions.

Now that’s the venue and the charity nailed down, I can start work firming up the set and the guest musicians. It’s looking a bit out of control on paper, with 20-25 guest musicians and 35-40 songs on the set. Could be in the region of 3 hours, which might be a bit OTT.

« Last Edit: December 10, 2012, 09:43:13 AM by AdamM » Logged
AdamM
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« Reply #185 on: February 04, 2013, 09:55:11 AM »

copied from this thread:
http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=60235.0

Any donations gratefully received.

This is something I mentioned a while ago, but it's only a few weeks away now. On 9th March, I turn 40 and I'm doing something a bit different to celebrate it.

A girl from Barnardos knocked on the door about a year ago asking me for a monthly donation. I was about to give her a polite "already give to charity" decline, when I thought to myself, other than a tenner here or there to Comic Relief / Children in need, in honesty, I don't. So I listened to her pitch, then signed up for a tenner a month. But I was still left thinking, actually, that's still not much really. I had the idea to "give my 40th birthday to charity. Initially, by that I meant getting any friends or family that would have bought me a card, present or pint, to instead donate the money to a designated charity.

Shortly after this, I was talked out of musical retirement to form a rock covers band. I played my first gig 15th Jan 1990. I'd been in and out of retirement from it in my mid-late 30's mostly because I couldn't be arsed organising practices and sorting out the logistics involved in getting all the gear to gigs. However much I tried to pack it in though, I still miss getting up and doing my thing. My new band, DYNAMITE BILLY rehearsed through the summer and played its first gig in September. The idea germinated that we could put on a charity gig for my birthday, which as a happy coincidence lands on a saturday night. I talked to the guys in the band and they were up for it. I also talked to a several musician friends who were at the gig who also thought it was a good idea. It started to occur to me that, over the 23 years I've been playing in bands, I've played with dozens of bands and maybe into the hundreds of musicians. "What if," I though, "I got a few of them to get up and do some guest spots?" Everyone I asked said they'd love to do it. Some weren't available and were gutted about it. Song ideas were, and still are being thrown around. I'm crashing peoples' band practices through February, and people are crashing Dynamite Billy practices to run through guest spots.

Next job was to choose a charity to raise funds for. Obvious candidates were either Diabetes research (my dad and sister are both type 1 diabetics) or Heart Foundation (dad had a quadruple bypass last year). However, for this event, what I thought I'd rather do is raise money for a local charity project, rather than throw the money into a national charity that raises millions a year. I contacted the local Barnardos fund raiser to ask if there were any local projects I could support. There were a couple of very worthy projects suggested, but one in particular jumped out at me. Barnardos are working in partnership with a local charity organisation called SoundLINCS on a project called SoundBOOST. They work with 16-21 year olds who are leaving the care system. They teach them to play musical instruments and to compose and perform their material. It improves confidence and self esteem, makes them social connections, and also gives them something positive to put on a CV and talk to potential employers about, in the absence of qualifications, extracurricular activities, hobbies, etc. Once they complete the programme, the intention is for these young people to act as mentors for 11-16 year olds still in the care system, and to start that personal development at an earlier stage and to improve the life chances of kids starting out at a significant disadvantage, through no fault of their own.

The kids on the programme will be using communal equipment belonging to SoundLINCS, but when they complete it, there's no funding for them to be given instruments of their own. That's where money I raise will come in. I'll be able to buy these kids their own equipment so they can continue their musical journey long after they complete their time in the SoundBOOST project.

So, I'm on the scrounge. As I said earlier, all my family and friends will be putting present / card / drink money into the pot for me. We'll also have some Barnardos fund raisers there on the night of the gig with buckets to collect cash donations. If you would consider "buying me a drink" for my 40th birthday, there's a BT MyDonate page. This was chosen over JustGiving because the latter charges the charity quite heavily for the service, whereas MyDonate is a free service and the charity get 100% of the money raised. This is the page:

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/adammason1

Any donations gratefully received.

And of course, if you live anywhere near me, you're welcome at the gig.
It's at Chameleon Music Bar in Grantham on March 9th. Live music starts at 8:30 and it'll be a wide range of rock, punk, blues, and metal, but you won't have to be a hard-core rocker to enjoy it. There'll be lots of really well known and well loved songs for everyone to enjoy.

Cheers

AdamM
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