Do you like soup? Of course you do – especially in this weather, and even more especially if it’s made by the first soup cafe in Scotland, Edinburgh’s Union of Genius, and comes with bread from The Wee Boulangerie.
Do you like music? How could you not? Particularly if it comes from Al Shields, Caroline Gilmour and Matt Norris & The Moon, ie some of Edinburgh’s finest performers.
Do you want to hear about some great Edinburgh-based projects that need your help? We all know that to give is at least as important as to receive – just think of the warm glow you’ll have inside and out after an evening of broth and bonhomie. Plus, you’ll know all about new community ventures before anyone else does – very handy for raising your social cred in the pub next weekend.
So where can you go to experience all this jollity? The lovely Assembly Roxy on Roxburgh Place is where. On Thursday 26th November Robert Peacock and Phil Bolger are organising a second helping of Edinburgh Soup, after a successful launch in October at which over £1,200 was raised for social innovation charity COMAS. The original idea, Bolger explains, came from Detroit, where SOUP raised over $55,000 in four years. He and Peacock have taken the concept and given it a unique Edinburgh flavour;
‘We wanted to make sure that our (fundraiser) felt fresh, original and appealed to numerous types of people, to try and get that feel of community on the night. We’re not inventing the wheel here but it seems to work and it’s capturing people’s imaginations, so we’re running with it!’
The idea is that each guest donates a minimum of £5, for which they get the soup, the bread, the music – and the chance to hear a simple pitch from each project. No PowerPoint presentations or videos are involved – ‘just words and passion’. After that everyone votes for the idea they like best, and the winning project gets the money (Bolger, Peacock and all the musicians are giving their time for free, and Union of Genius and The Wee Boulangerie are donating the food). What’s more, local tour company Rabbie’s Trail Burners is making a generous additional contribution to the pot (no, not the soup one, don’t be silly…), making it even more attractive to the winners, who will return to a later SOUP to tell everyone what they’ve achieved with the money.
Both Peacock and Bolger have a background in running music nights;
‘It’s really important to us to showcase the live acts as much as the projects, trying to introduce them to a new audience while accidentally doing some good at the same time’.
The pitching projects are not announced till the last minute to avoid, says Bolger, ‘any biased or unfair shenanigans!’
Edinburgh Soup are looking to run four nights quarterly in 2016, making each bigger and better than the last; if you would like to take part in a future event, either as a musician or as a project looking for funding, Bolger and Peacock would love to hear from you via Facebook or Twitter – but in the meantime, they’re asking everyone to spread the word about Thursday;
‘All in all, it looks set to be pretty special. It just needs people to get involved! So like us on Facebook and Twitter and invite your pals to the event. We succeed or fail by word of mouth, so hopefully the people of Edinburgh will get behind us again!’
Edinburgh Soup starts at 7pm on Thursday 26th November at Assembly Roxy, 2 Roxburgh Place. Tickets are free but you will be required to make a donation of at least £5 on the night; book via eventbrite here (there will be only limited admission on the door).
