Earlier this year (2013) I met up with a friend in a local coffee shop I frequent. We were having a chat about music, life generally catching up and also finalising the details of a fundraising gig we were organising to raise funds for local children's charity CLIC Sargent, which supports children and young people with cancer along with their families. This gig was part of a planned month long fundraising effort we as a family had planned which eventually, with the help of a lot of people raised over £27,500 for the charity.
Part of the conversation included my friend telling me about a chat he'd had with a mutual friend and part of that chat included the remark 'Mark Reid (that's me) should start up a music event' that comment resonated with what I'd been thinking myself.... anyway to cut a long story short that conversation in that coffee shop in the presence of a couple of lattes saw AER Music Club conceived, at least in my head.
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| Amy meeting her hero Aston from JLS |
Several months previous to this on 20th February 2013 we lost our youngest daughter Amy, who was only 20 to cancer, Amy fought long and hard against this hideous disease with outrageous courage and grace. This has been devastating to us as a family, but it has made me as her dad to determined to keep her memory alive and to do something worthwhile in her name.
In another conversation I had with another friend several months after this he said to me that I would do thing either because Amy would have done it or I would do it in her memory....it was probably at that point I decided I wanted/needed to do this....
....and so AER Music Club was born....
I am a lover of music always have been and I've always been a person who loved to provide opportunities for others to discover and develop their interests, talents ifI I was at all able...
So I suppose there are several reasons why I along with some friends are launching the AER Music Club in January 2014...
....firstly it's in memory of Amy, the club is named in her honour AER stands for Amy Ellen Reid even the colours in the logo have a significance to Amy... I want her memory to live on, I want people who didn't know her to be inspired by her story and how she faced the greatest challenge of life as I said before with outrageous courage, strength, grace and humour...
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Amy was also very supportive of cancer charities and in particular CLIC Sargent, Stand Up to Cancer (Cancer Research UK) and Friends of the Cancer Centre were she received her treatment.. so we will be using the music club to continue to raise funds for these amazing charities by donating part of the door tax and also holding a ballot on each club night...
Also our we country is jammed pack with outstanding musical talent the more I hear the more I research the more I go to gigs the more I'm convinced of that.. So we want to provide a platform for people just starting out to get a gig in front of a listening audience but we also want to provide a platform for artists to reach a whole new audience to get a chance to play outside of Belfast and to get their music out there'
So to that end the AER Music Club will launch on Thursday 30th January 2014 and will be held on the last Thursday of every month after that... at Molly Browns in Newtownards... We are excited to be doing this and look forward to seeing you lovers of music there for a great night of music and to help make a difference to people with cancer..
we have facebook and twitter where you can keep up to date with whats happening at AER
www.facebook.com/aermusicclub
@aermusicclub
Thanks
Mark Reid
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