MAKING GOOD MUSIC & FOOD & RAISING ££ FOR A VERY GOOD SOUTH LONDON HOMELESS CHARITY!
Where would you spend the busiest evening of the busiest weekend of the busiest part of the August summer holiday month?
Seeing a lot of great music - 7 acts in all - at a Robes Project fundraiser in South London, of course!
People typically evacuate London in August for summer half-term but a great crowd turned up, lots of fun was had and funds were raised for stellar South London homeless charity Robes (robes.org.uk) in Amott Baptist Church (near Goose Green) on 17th August, an event organised by community groups Cost of Living Crisis Concerts, Grove Collective and Camberwell blues band John McClean and the Clan.
Energy prices are skyrocketing, food and petrol prices are rising, taxes are up and wages are stagnating, rents are increasing. With London hunger and homelessness both on dramatic rise, non-denominational Robes try to fill the gap by supporting homeless people with winter shelter in churches across Southwark and Lambeth from November to March. Robes provides a safe, warm place to sleep, a hot meal and support for the many London vulnerable seeking to rebuild their lives.
Grove Collective, a community "foodshifting" group active since 2017, was founded by John McClean and the Clan with early assistance from Copleston Centre Peckham. Grove Collective organised and catered this Robes event through its Cost of Living Crisis Concerts (COLCC) partner. It provides food for food-led charity, COLCC works to raise money to assist charity provision. This Robes Project fundraiser brought everyone together in Amott Baptist Church, a venue no one expected and in the name of homelessness, a new turn – shelter and food.
This wasn't the originally envisaged gig for Robes with lots of local community choirs in a South London church. But August. Choirmasters couldn't find enough voices for parts. So what ensued was an 11th hour pivot to blues, folk and pop ... and what support! Heaps of local musicians were on-hand for this event to help raise money to help. And with a distinct Antipodean flair in the air! The 7 acts on the night included New Zealander Alan Evans with Who Slapped John (https://whoslappedjohn.com), Lizzie Shirley of Telegraph Hill Community Choir (https://www.southeastlondonchoir.com), Vronksy (Crystal Palace-based indie folk back on the scene after too long an absence - https://vronskyband.bandcamp.com/album/time-of-letting-go), the superb blues/jazz singer-songwriter Winston Skeritt (Camberwell - https://soundcloud.com/winston-skerritt), fabulous Post-Rock songsmith Tim Wright of Orchestra Fantasma (https://tawright.bandcamp.com) popular Camberwell folk pop band The New Immigrants (https://www.thenewimmigrants.org), and New Zealand's all-time best Taranaki-to-London transplants John McClean & the Clan, London's only psychedelic rockin' gospel blues band (https://johnmccleanandtheclan.bandcamp.com)!
The evening's headliner may well have been Grove Collective's volunteer catering crew who put on a great spread. They hope to replicate their exotic fusion and beverage menu at Amott with a COLCC community choirs event next year!
Said one volunteer: "whatever it takes, we'll get it done!"
Pictures - Vladimir Daniel, Bob Rosa, Amott Road Baptist Church
https://www.instagram.com/grovecollectiveselondon
https://www.instagram.com/colcrisisconcerts