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Musicians from around the world will be strumming a series of songs on Saturday to raise funds for a furry cause in Bahrain.
The Music To The Rescue event, which is in its third instalment, will be live-streamed on Facebook and feature 17 performers supporting Bahrain Animal Rescue Centre (BARC).
The musical animal advocates raised around BD1,400 in the last two events and hope the latest entertainment extravaganza will inspire even more donations to the cause.
“It’s been over a year since the last one and our situation is much worse,” said Susan Cook, BARC’s event organiser.
“We haven’t been able to stage any normal fundraising events in the community as a result of Covid-19 restrictions.
“BARC has miraculously managed to continue operating over the past year. We have also succeeded in getting animals adopted here and overseas, finding foster homes, as well as the all-important spaying and neutering of strays, all accomplished by a small team of dedicated volunteers.
“We still need all the help we can get though and while this event is completely free to watch, we sincerely hope viewers will be inspired to donate.”
The event runs from 4pm to 8pm and will be hosted by Radio Bahrain’s DJ Milala. It will include 15-minute performances by BARC’s chairwoman and soulful Scottish singer Sandi Thom accompanied by Chip Moore, Ahmed AQ, May Al Qasim, Paddy Wall, Abyooki, Adel Fairooz and Nathalie, Suggzy, Najma and MJ, and Cheryl and Sherman from Bahrain. There will also be performances from Deborah Jones in Finland, Katty Gold and Beata Just in the UAE, Cleatus Tauro from Kuwait and Clarissa in the US.
“I’m passionate about music and I personally know all but four of the musicians appearing in our event,” said Susan. “I am sad that they are struggling in these turbulent times during which music venues have been closed for months.
“The musicians are from many different countries including Bahrain, Tunisia, UK, Poland, Sweden, India, Nigeria, and the Philippines, performing a variety of genres to suit all tastes.
“We are very grateful to them for kindly donating their time and talent to support the animals - my second passion.
“All performances will be live-streamed and converted to videos which can be viewable indefinitely. The performances from the past two events are still up there for new visitors to view.”
Bahraini musician May Al Qasim, who will be singing a combination of covers and renditions with a twist, is excited to be participating for the third time.
“I’m so happy to contribute to this cause and I am so glad that we have BARC to help us support our animals on this island, especially by using music as our aid,” she said.
“I hope we touch as many people as possible with the message of how important it is to take care of animals and wildlife in general.”
Ahmed is also thrilled to be a part of the project once again. “It’s been pretty tough for the wonderful people at the Bahrain Animal Rescue Centre to keep up with the increasing costs to care for all the animals they have now.
“I hope people will look into their hearts, support the centre with whatever they can and enjoy all the cool music being streamed on the day of the event. As usual, I will be performing a few jazz classics along with some surprise jazzy twists of popular songs that most people know and love.”
People that wish to donate to the cause can do so via Paypal and Benefit Pay. And those that have some free time on their hands can volunteer at BARC.
“We always need extra hands,” said Susan. “During the long summer months, where there is not much going on, you can help in a variety of ways from assisting with the many social media posts, public relations and marketing for sponsorships, to picking up food donations, injured or abandoned animals, ferrying them to and from the vets, socialising the animals in the shelter or helping out with actual hands-on care at the shelter which has now relocated to Hamala.
“At any one time, we have approximately 400 dogs and 200 cats in the shelter. We are always looking for foster homes too which can be helpful not only to the animals but also to those who are reluctant to take on a pet permanently, due to their personal circumstances.”
Watch the online event on the Facebook Group: Music To The Rescue and for details on donations call 39801393.
