Oban Rotary Club charity fundraising concert

Mary’s Meals and Shelterbox – charities involved internationally in relief work and in Haiti, are to be the beneficiaries of a fundraising concert to be held tomorrow night (Friday 19th February) in Oban’s Corran Halls.

The organisers are Oban High School and Oban Rotary Club.

In an interesting experiment, there are to be two concerts:

• one is in the afternoon from 1.00pm-3.00pm, for those who aren’t free in the evening or who prefer not to go out at night
• the second is in the evening from 7.00pm-9.00 – and is expected to sell out. (Prompt to book quickly – see details below.)

All of the acts in the programme are coming fro Oban High School and from two local primary schools – Dunbeg and Strath of Appin. And this is where you fasten your seat belt and prepare for an all out entertainment-assault.

There will be pipes and drums, instrumental groups, vocal groups, highland dancers, two dance squads (modern dance), two ceilidh bands and, wait for it, two squads of cheerleaders.

You’ll have the weekend to recover – and so will all of these talented children who will be delivering two high adrenaline gigs in a single day.

And it’s all being done by people lucky enough to live in the magical Argyll to help those in a condition none of ca even imagine and in a place few of us will ever see.

Shelterbox is an international disaster relief charity, delivering emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disaster worldwide.

Mary’s Meals, the Argyll-based charity, is devoted to supporting education and feeding children in the world’s poorest communities – and is currently working hard to bring aid to Haiti.

The extra demand caused by enquiries about the Haiti appeal has meant that the volume of administration at the charity’s base in Argyll’s Dalmally is greater.

Because of thism Mary’s Meals is also appealing for local volunteers to come in and help out in the office and to visit schools and community groups to talk about the work the charity does.

On the overseas side, in Haiti it is are continuing with its water deliveries and food distribution and working to get more school feeding projects up and running again.

Medical supplies were delivered from America on Saturday last and are already being put to use in a Cite Soleil clinic. Cite Soleil is a slum in Port au Prince, described as ‘the worst slum in the world’ and an area in which Mary’s Meals has been active since 2006.

Magnus MacFarlane Barrow, CEO of Mary’s Meals is in Malawi at the moment and is due to go to Haiti again at the
end of the month.

Tickets are already on sale at the Corran Hals Box Office. Phone 01631 567333 (9am – 7pm).