Singing to put dinner on table for homeless (From Thurrock Gazette)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting TGNEWS to 80360 or you can email us Click here for details »
Singing to put dinner on table for homeless
9:00am Thursday 13th December 2012 in Sound Check By Hannah Marsh
Charity gig – singer songwriter Charlotte McQuaid will be performing at the Ship
Cash will be raised to put a Christmas dinner on the table for homeless people in Southend at a special fundraising gig at the Ship, in Old Leigh, on Sunday.
Singer songwriter Charlotte McQuaid will be lending her talents to the night as she helps pull in money for Southend homeless charity Harp’s Christmas Dinner Appeal, which aims to provide up to 700 dinners for people across the town over the 12 days of Christmas.
Charlotte, who has been songwriting since she was 11, believes music is the perfect platform to bridge understanding and is keen to lend her talents to raising both money and awareness of the charity.
She says: “Music is a good communicator and I have been able to use it in a positive way in all the fields I have worked in.
“They have included putting on singing sessions in a medium secure mental health unit and also working towards producing a musical with clients at the Gazelle Project, a day provision for adults with Learning Disabilities. More recently I have formed a lunch-time music group for students I teach at New Campus Basildon, a college affiliated to Seevic.
“I believe music is a good platform to bring focus to the increasing plight of the homeless, especially at this time of the year – nobody should be alone, hungry and on the streets at Christmas.”
The plight of those on the streets is all the more poignant at Christmas, when others gather with friends and family, and tuck into hearty dinners and unwrap lavish gifts.
Charlotte feels passionately about supporting the Southend charity. She says: “Harp is a well- established charity that works tirelessly to assist the homeless within our local community of Southend.
“I hope that by supporting them in this way I can, with the help of my musician friends, play my small part in raising some funds and awareness.”
Charlotte plays upstairs at the Ship on Sunday. Entry is £5, but you can make further donations to Harp’s Christmas Dinner Appeal online at: www.harps outhend.org.uk, send a cheque to Harp Ltd, 117 York Road, Southend, SS1 2DL or call 01702 615000. You can also donate by texting: HOME43 followed by the amount you wish to donate to 70070.
