Wigan college music students find The Venue for fund-raising gig

The first year audio and music production learners at Wigan and Leigh College put on a successful event for Mental Health UK at The Venue at Wigan Youth Zone.

Other music news: Remembering Wigan musician Leon at charity gigThey had to organise a gig from scratch for the event management aspect of their course and rose to the challenge by finding the location, booking a line-up and promoting the event.

The entire bill consisted of Wigan and Leigh College students with the exception of solo singer Megan Burns.

Level three music performance students Liberty Howarth and Megan Graham sang together as part of the event, while bands Freeway and The Remainder also took to the stage.

Students Dom Brown, Jasmine Reeve and Joe Mason took the main lead in organising the live show.

Dom said: “We had to organise it as part of the course. I was in charge of promoting the event including social media updates and posters.

“We felt The Venue was the best place to stage the gig. We had a good range of people attending the performance and we provided a range of performances from acoustic sets to full band. It was a really good atmosphere.”

Donations from the audience ensured the evening brought in more than £400 for charity.

The students chose Mental Health UK which is one of the largest organisations dedicated to battling mental illness, helping more than 90,000 people each year.

The charity supports people through crises and helps them live independently and realise they are not alone.Last year its health information was accessed online more than 3.6 million times.

The students’ entrepreneurial and fund-raising flair also drew praise from Wigan and Leigh College staff.

Music lecturer Mark Irwin said: “They were all very professional and did amazing. They worked hard to organise everything and represented the college excellently.”

For more information about the college’s music provision visit www.wigan-leigh.ac.uk