HARDDRIVE – the UK’s leading eighties synth pop tribute act – recently paid their own special tribute to local NHS staff, raising more than £1,000 to thank them for their pandemic efforts.
Vocalist Vic Woods, along with keyboard and backing vocals bandmate Kevin McManus, contacted Southern Health’s charity Brighterway earlier this year to invite a number of the local NHS Trust’s staff to a charity gig at Gosport’s Carisbrooke Arms. As the band explained, the concert – which was organised to raise much needed funds for Brighterway – was a unique way of “showing our appreciation for our brilliant NHS staff.”
Ian Hynd, Head of Charity at Brighterway, the charitable arm of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, explained: “Although the original date had to be postponed due to changing coronavirus lockdown rules, nothing could stop this fantastic pop duo from rescheduling the gig as soon as the restrictions were lifted, with a new date agreed late in July.
“Tina and Darren, the managers of the Carisbrooke Arms pub came up with the idea of the gig being a ticketed event for a charity of HARDDRIVE’s choice. They were quick to agree that it should be an NHS staff charity – and that’s where we came in! Kevin’s employer, ULTRA Electronics, also generously pledged money as part of the fundraiser and we couldn’t be more delighted or thankful with the overall sum raised!”
HARDDRIVE sold 250 tickets with a very reasonable £2 entry fee and also accepted donations on the night itself. Vic – who explained to the audience how funds raised by Brighterway benefit local NHS staff – commented: “We were really pleased with the outcome. The tickets sold well in spite of COVID-19 fears and the combined efforts of our band, the Carisbrooke Arms and ULTRA Electronics means that this has been a very successful, well-deserved result for Brighterway and our hard-worked NHS staff.”
In total, the gig raised £844.57 and, combined with ULTRA Electronic’s kind £250 donation, the grand sum was £1094.57 – an amount which is set to help staff working in the Gosport area, specifically NHS staff at Gosport War Memorial Hospital.
