Gig Chat Sunday Social Event
In 2015 I set up a Facebook group called Gig Chat. The purpose of Gig Chat is to support local, independent music venues and importantly, to get people interested in going out to gigs. Many friendships have been made through the group, so we decided to tap into that community and raise some funds for Penumbra.
We got a few volunteers together to discuss what we could do. In the group we often gift gig tickets for free if anyone has a spare or a ticket they can’t use. We asked group members who benefit from this kindness to make a small donation to Penumbra. We organise sponsored walks each month, from the Pentland Hills, Beecraigs Country Park, to an Edinburgh music city tour.
Penumbra felt like a natural fit for our group!
I first became aware of Penumbra when one of our group members, who worked for Penumbra, invited us to a fund-raising gig. This got me thinking, with our Gig Chat community and resources, we could contribute to Penumbra’s fundraising efforts. There are more than 1,100 members on Gig Chat, mostly based in Scotland, so hopefully we’ve been able to raise awareness of the tremendous work the charity do.
Recently, we held a Gig Chat Sunday social event at the Leith Depot. We wanted to give some business to one of our beloved local independent venues, while raising money for Penumbra. On the day we had a playlist based on songs chosen by those attending and a VERY competitive music quiz; Barrie took everyone by surprise with his 80s pop knowledge and we raised over £200 and then another £80 in online donations.
Penumbra felt like a natural fit for our group. To others thinking of doing something similar, I would say, get together with some like-minded friends and come up with a few ideas. Pick the ones that are most achievable and just go for it, have fun and raise money for a great cause.
Huge thanks to Andy for sharing the story of Gig Chat with us!
If Andy and the rest of the folk’s at Gig Chat have inspired you, visit: penumbra.org.uk/fundraising
