You’ve probably all know of guitars, and flutes and recorders when talking about musical instruments, so has everyone. But one instrument you may have never even heard rumours of is the Steel drum (or Steelpan as it is sometimes referred to). If you have never heard of it, I recommend you go educate yourself, watch videos, listen to their amazing sound. 

Sadly, at the Hundred of Hoo Academy, the Steel Drums have unfortunately come out of tune… and unlike guitars, you can’t just twizzle a few pegs and it all comes out good. You actually have to pay to get the drums re-tuned, and my oh my is it expensive. Hence the reason for this article.

One brave soul has fought against the odds, the very loud music and irritatingly long wait time for a date to run a musical fundraiser. That brave soul would be me…

On March 13th I will be holding a night of music, fun and even more music and could use all the support we possibly can. There will be bands, raffles, food, drink, and many more interesting activities throughout the night. 

The main aim of the night was originally trying to and raise approximately £650 to get the  Steel drums re-tuned. Yet, since then it has developed into more than I possibly imagined. It was just going to have entertainment from within the school itself (since the music department has slowly started to make itself great again), but now we have bands coming in from over kent. Some bigger than others (but obviously not huge bands as that would just be ridiculous!)  Even the aim of the night has changed. We still want to raise money for our Steel drum group, but the night has now become a night to celebrate and inspire young musicians, let people know it is a great and wonderful thing to be a part of. 

As of today (30/01/2020) we have managed to raise £255 towards our goal.  Maybe it doesn’t quite seem a lot yet, but over the next few months, we are hoping to lift the fundraiser off of the ground (possibly even to take it to space, metaphorically speaking) and raise outstanding amounts to not only support the steel drum group but to also raise money to support young people, getting them into music.

Did I not mention that all extra money over the amount needed is going to be donated directly to the Hundred of Hoo’s music department? Well, it is. All money donated and earnt prior to the night is going directly back into the school and its music department so music opportunities can be afforded to others within the academy. 

If you live close to Hoo, or even further afield, you can buy tickets to the fundraiser night, and I highly recommend it as it will be a night to remember for a very long time. Even if you cannot make it but feel like making even the smallest donation, you can give to our just giving page- to support this amazing event. 

Talking of donations, we even managed to get celebrity Jools Holland to donate a generous £100 towards the event, which was astonishing to receive. 



 

To sum up, there is a magnificent musical fundraiser, food, drink, entertainment and even a raffle (which, by the way, has some spectacular prizes). Feel free to buy a ticket or even just donate (but don’t feel pressured). And even if you can’t do much, spread this article and the links. Make yourself be a part of this fundraiser, even if you can’t donate, pride yourself in knowing that by sharing the links and articles you are helping more and more young people to become musicians- you never know, you could end up helping to create the next Ed Sheeran!


 

Tickets available here! <-- Click here

Just giving page! <-- Click here

Contact for more information: steeldrumfundraiser@gmail.com


 

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