A couple of nightclub promoters in London have come up with ideas to raise as much money as possible as quickly as possible for the Tsunami relief effort. They're calling the project The Disco Aid Project and they want your help. Protein° Member, Ben Odell of Our Disco fame sez, "As I'm sure you are aware, one of the largest earthquakes of recent times struck the Indian Ocean on Sunday 26 December 2004, causing a tsunami to engulf the coastlines of many surrounding countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and East Africa. Death tolls from the tsunami itself currently stand at greater than 115,000 people and rising, and the secondary effects could take far more lives; the World Health Organisation are saying that as many as five million people currently have no access to drinking water, food, or adequate sanitaiton. Clearly, we need to help our fellow human beings right now... New Years Eve is upon us, the biggest party night of the year. How about we turn the events that we're organising or playing at into 'benefit' gigs, in that we donate as much as possible of our earnings or profits from that night towards disaster relief, and ask the venues to do the same? I'm sure we'd all love to help make a difference as the first thing we do in 2005. For example, the promoters of this years NYE event at the Marquee club, on London's Leicester Square, are contributing 100% of their profits to the cause. We challenge you to search your heart and mind and make a donation befitting the work that you are doing on that night. Even if New Years has passed by the time you hear of this idea, it's not too late to donate a proportion of the money that you received on the night! Some other ideas for things that you might be able to do to help:
- Collection buckets (please clearly label with the charity name and number)
- Add an extra £1 (or equivalent currency) per person entering your venue if your profit margins are tight
- If you are getting a fee for a performance, perhaps consider donating a proportion of that fee
- Raise drinks prices by a set amount and donate the extra money raised.
We're not collecting the money ourselves, rather The Disco Aid Project is a name to unite our ideas behind. We are recommending that you donate your money to the Disasters Emergency Committee - UK registered charity no 1062638 - by phone on +44(0)870 606 0900 or donate online at http://www.dec.org.uk/ , though if you'd prefer another charity for the same cause, please feel free. If you'd like to get involved, this doesn't require that you do much more than actually donate the money yourself, though we'd love to keep track of who is getting involved. Please email us and let us know what you are doing, we'd love to know: This is our chance to help make a difference and to try and ensure that five million more people don't die unnecessarily. Please pass on this email to everybody you know involved in the music industry in any way. Copy it, broadcast it, print it, publish it or do anything you can help us spread some ideas to raise some money for this cause! Thanks for reading! Have a great New Year 2005! Glyn Peppiatt + Den Odell Please be aware that The Disco Aid Project is not directly affiliated with the DEC
