For my fiftieth birthday I had fifty gigs/events (music, comedy, book readings) on that day (or near about) to plug the work of the Nordoff Robbins charity. That was gigs already taking place, not me arranging fifty gigs! Most simply sent a Tweet and/or Facebook post on the day giving a link and plug to the charity, whilst some had leaflets from Nordoff Robbins on their merchandise stands. The idea being to create a whole host of social media posts mentioning Nordoff Robbins on and around the 8 February, by bands/artists with shows already taking place that day.

Some artists kindly put on shows specifically to raise funds for the charity, including Paul Stead of the Darker My Horizon, who hosted a live acoustic performance via Facebook last year. This year Dandelion Charm did a free entry gig which raised over £170, plus author Mark Stay donated a £1 from every copy sold or signed at the launch event of his new book ‘The End of Magic’.

As it was such a success I thought why not make it an annual event to plug the Nordoff Robbins charity and their work in musical therapy which benefits people of all ages.

From Ingrid Stone, Community Fundraiser at the Nordoff Robbins charity on 2018’s Fifty Gigs…

“I would like to thank each of the artists, bands, musicians and production companies who have supported the Fifty Gigs In A Day fundraising initiative in aid of Nordoff Robbins music therapy. Above all, thank you to Jason Ritchie, who founded this wonderful initiative. As a charity and organisation, your support is so valued – both on the fundraising front and in terms of awareness, and the £202 that you have raised is equivalent to 10 x group-based Nordoff Robbins music therapy sessions or 4 x one-to-one Nordoff Robbins music therapy sessions, which is brilliant.”

Nordoff Robbins do lots of wonderful work helping people of all ages with musical therapy and music has always been a big part of my life, so what better way than to help raise awareness of a music based charity?

Please note -  This is an independent third-party event in aid of Nordoff Robbins and in no way a collaboration with the charity.  This is because as Nordoff Robbins have support from the music industry with their own events they need to make sure that artists are aware that any event is third party.