Entertainment Agents Blog

Shepherds Bush Walkabout has become something of hotspot for charity events of late. We raised £25 000 for the Australian Bushfire Appeal, £10 000 for the Queensland Floods, £1000s more for the Mining tragedy in New Zealand and this time we pulled together to help out the rebuilding of Christchurch.

There’s something beautiful about New Zealand. Sure, there are the obvious factors; sheer natural beauty, amazing seafood and some of the world’s best white wines come immediately to mind. But there is something else, a beauty and goodness that lies in the hearts of its people. You see, New Zealanders have many good reasons to boast about themselves and their country but (unlike many of us Aussies) they don’t. That’s not the Kiwi way. New Zealand is clean, green and nuclear-free. Theirs is the most peaceful nation on Earth. They don’t drop bombs on people or allow themselves to be pushed around by the big players in the international community. They bend over backwards to help out other nations when tragedy and crisis strike. That’s why, now that the city of Christchurch has suffered its own tragedy, we grabbed the opportunity to lend a helping hand.

We started with a target of £5000 in mind and kicked off the day with live music courtesy of Sam Wilcock, Hamilton born and bred. Next up we had more Kiwi talent to offer: Two Man Duo. Quality! As they took the stage I darted off to go and re-park their car, something of a mission at Shepherds Bush. What complicated matters is that the boys rigged up their own ‘engine immobiliser’, which amounted to a tangle of confusing wires hanging about the in the cockpit. Once put back together, one can start the vehicle and drive off. I challenge even the most cunning of thieves to solve this well-laid puzzle. Their little Suzuki Carry was awash with home-made bits and bobs; technology built from a keenness to avoid unnecessary costs. The piece de resesistance was a home-made roof-rack built of wood. I do love the Kiwi can-do attitude of ingenuity and cost-cutting. By this time I felt like I was spending an afternoon with the Flight of the Concords.

Meanwhile, back at the venue, people were pouring in; Kiwis, Aussies, Saffas and the English all buying the special edition t-shirts, raffle tickets and, of course, refreshing bevvies. After a very successful auction of some amazing stuff (holidays, sporting goods etc.) The Sparks strutted their wares to a sizable crowd who were now swaying and singing along.

Plan B hit the stage at 9.45pm, at which time we had the pleasure of announcing to the crowd that the target of £5000 had been well and truly smashed to pieces. In fact, the total stood at £8471.00. Amazing! What made it all the more spectacular is that an anonymous donor had pledged to fork out £500 of her own money if we could manage to get to £9000. If we got to £10000 then that pledge would stretch to £1000. The Top Deck crew headed out for another run with the donation buckets and, after they came back, we counted ourselves up to £9867.50. One last push….and we did it. All said and done it looks like we managed to send back £11000 of much needed relief money to Christchurch. Good luck rebuilding your city. Glad we could help.

Many,many thanks to all the staff,management and bands that made last Saturdays event a success and,especially,to Brendan from The LMM Bandeoke Band (resident at the Bush every Friday if you want to join in with some live Band Karaoke (Rockaoke.) for stage managing the event and for writing the brilliant blog above.