UK: Beat the Streets – an all-day music festival staged to help the homeless – has announced that it broke its fundraising target of £100,000.
Taking place across venues in Nottingham on January 28, thousands turned out to watch sets from the likes of Sleaford Mods, Ferocious Dog, The Invisible Orchestra, Lawnmower Deth, Rolo Tomassi, Kagoule and Eyre Llew.
Organisers DHP Family have now confirmed that the festival will become an annual event, with the next Beat the Streets scheduled for January 27 2019. As well as raising vital funds, the festival is also raising awareness of the growing homeless problem in Nottingham.
The money raised came from a combination of ticket sales, donations, bar takings, merchandise income, guest list donations and collection buckets. Many of the artists also donated their proceeds from merchandise sales on the day. The money raised from Beat the Streets will go to Framework, the charity dedicated to improving the lives of homeless people.
The financial breakdown is as follows:
● £46,000: ticket sales and bar proceeds
● £16,000: fundraising activities (Hey! Hey! Hey! Clubnight, guestlist donations, Beat The Streets badge sales)
● £3,000: donated by beer suppliers
● £30,000: donated by DHP Family
● Additional funds were raised from merchandise sales, raffle sales, JustGiving donations & collection buckets on the day.
The full line-up featured more than 80 acts playing over more than 10 stages in venues across the city centre, including Rock City, Rock City Basement, Black Cherry Lounge, Rescue Rooms, Red Room, Rescue Rooms Bar, Rough Trade, Stealth rooms 1 & 2, The Bodega and The Bodega Bar.
DHP Family – which has a presence in Bristol with its venue Thekla – is also donating £5000 to the city’s main homelessness charity, Caring in Bristol.
Donations can still be made here, or by texting BTSN81 followed by the amount you wish to donate to 70070 (so to donate £3 you can text ‘BTSN £3’.
Beat the Streets merchandise can also still be purchased here.
George Akins of DHP Family, said: “Wow, what a great day, everyone involved has worked so hard these past few months to deliver a meaningful event to raise awareness and money for a serious issue that we can’t ignore. The whole of the Nottingham music scene really came together to make a difference. I am immensely proud of everyone involved and will strive to make next year bigger and better.”
Michael Leng of Framework, said: “Beat the Streets was a very special occasion where the community responded with massive commitment to the homelessness crisis. It was also a thrilling celebration of Nottingham’s vibrant music scene, which provided the perfect platform to raise funds and awareness for homelessness. The day will live long in the memory and here at Framework we are massively grateful to all the brilliant musicians who chose to give up their Sunday to help homeless people in Nottingham in such an entertaining way.
“It’s hard to sum up our gratitude to George and Sean Akins and the entire team at DHP Family for the vision and enthusiasm to create the event and make it happen, as well as to all their suppliers who contributed so generously. Above all, massive thanks to the thousands of music lovers who came not only from Nottingham but from across the country to show their support and create such an amazing atmosphere.”
Framework will use the money raised to improve the effectiveness of its Street Outreach Team, putting qualified social workers in place to start assessments on the streets, and helping to provide emergency accommodation to protect people in below zero conditions and towards resettlement workers who enable smooth transitions from the street to a tenancy.
Leng added: “The total that has been raised will play a massive part in supporting the partnership between Nottingham City Council, Framework and other third sector agencies to help people on the streets this winter, and perhaps beyond, with the provision of accommodation and support.”
