A Sheffield DJ is is using the power of music to raise money for humanitarian causes across the world.
Afua Nicholas, an Education, Culture and Childhood undergraduate, at the University of Sheffield, is hosting musical events across the city to help countries and people in crisis.
She set up an events series called The Rhythm of Giving, in July, raising over £800 for charities including Medical Aid Palestine, Focus Congo ,and Dafur Women Action Group.
Afua initially started playing at gigs to showcase herself as a DJ, but she quickly supported her passion for music with her affinity for activism.
She is no stranger to using music as a tool for social impact. Throughout her time at university, Afua has interned at the social enterprise and events company, Ritetrax, which help vulnerable young people and adults.
She says: “Thanks to volunteering throughout my university experience, I understand first hand how important it is to have those spaces and so to be able to contribute to that was just a yes for me.”
Afua’s decision to start the Rhythm of Giving was propelled by a message she received on Instagram from a 20-year-old girl, named Hanan, who was desperately trying to help her family flee Gaza.
Afua was spurred on to make a difference that could “touch someone’s life directly”.
“It’s so dystopian because you can see that her videos stop when the war started,” says Afua. “My heart kind of dropped because I realised that she’s actually a real person suffering.”
Hanan and her family, are aiming to raise £40,000 so she, her parents, and her four siblings can seek refuge in Egypt.
Her GoFundMe page has raised over £2500 in three months, with over £400 raised by the Rhythm of Giving.
Afua has hosted a further four events at venues across the city, including Panke Social, Dam House, Dorothy Pax and the Harley. Initially donations were simply encouraged but the latest gigs have been ticketed with all proceeds going to the charities.
A similar student-led initiative has been organised by the Student Action for Refugees Society (STAR), who also organise The Refugee Rhythms.
At their last event (2 November), three live bands and five DJs performed, and a poet gave a short recital, at the Sidney & Matilda. Art by refugees and asylum seekers, from across the city, was also on display.
Committee Member, Charlie Rees, joined STAR when he discovered the society was at risk of folding.
He described Refugee Rhythms as an “amazing experience” where people come together in a show of solidarity around a “common cause”.
So far ticket sales and a raffle for the event last month, which received donations from local businesses, has raised over £2000.
The profits went to local Sheffield charity, City of Sanctuary, who work to provide safe spaces and communities for refugees and asylum seekers.
Charlie said: “The event raised a lot of money but it also encouraged people to become more politically active and it made many attendees more politically aware.”
It is hoped the socials events will act as an opportunity to educate people on the plight of those who are suffering across the world.
Afua says: “It’s so interesting to see how much people are actually willing to give, but either they don’t have access, or know where to give.”
The merging of underground music culture with fundraising may not be a new revolution, but it is certainly reasserting itself in the spaces of a younger generation.
For Afua, though, there is more to be done and these efforts should not lose pace or push. She says: “A company, or a group, or organisation are going to raise money, but why can’t we do that all the time, or at least have this system going where at least some of the funds are going to a charity.”
