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‘Ain’t It Funky’ UK fundraiser for HOPE worldwide UK

Haley Schultz • March 8, 2019

The Leicester Church of Christ in the United Kingdom (UK) recently held their sixth annual fundraiser with a difference! “Ain’t It Funky” was a throwback to the 1980’s & 1990’s with people from all over the UK dressing up and getting down to retro music, joining a lip sync battle, playing old school games like Pac-Man & Streetfighter on computers donated by a local museum, all in aid of raising funds for HOPE worldwide UK. There was a wholesome fun family atmosphere with a radiant backdrop of colourful outfits, the smell of roasted Caribbean food and the sound of Polaroid cameras capturing snapshots of the 80’s & 90’s! This year a record sum of over $1900 was raised for homeless and drug rehabilitation projects based in the UK.

Ain’t It Funky had a guest spot where the director of Homeless services (HOPE worldwide UK), Rob Payne presented real life cases of vulnerable people helped by the generosity of volunteers and donations given to HOPE ww . More importantly people were then invited to a HOPE ww workshop at the Leicester Church (the same theatre venue as the event!)

The next day the whole church and many remaining guests packed into The Y Theatre in an interactive workshop called “Who is My Neighbour?” The session was exploring ways to help the poor and oppressed in our communities. The audience were encouraged to voice their concerns about engaging directly with members of the homeless and addiction dependant communities. Rob provided practical advice and coaching to help us build up confidence and contact with them and the agencies more experienced in meeting their needs.

This is proof we can have fun and still make a difference in people’s lives. We have found that fun appealing events attract people and it gives us opportunities to open people’s hearts and minds in an empathetic and very practical way.

We are thankful to Duncan and Juliette Lawrence who founded this family friendly event back in 2011 and all the volunteer Funkyteers who helped plan and make the evening and following day a spectacular success. Ain’t It Funky has had media interest from the BBC and other social media channels. We hope this attention will inspire a new generation of volunteers to continue to raise awareness of helping the homeless through the communities!

More stories, pictures and videos can be found at www.aintitfunky.org.

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