Thirty drummers from Edinburgh crossed the Forth Road Bridge on Saturday morning drumming all the way.
The Edinburgh based Samba drumming band Pulse of the Place is off to New York in 39 days, and now they need the final £10,000 to push their fundraising over the line.
They enlisted the help of the 2023 NYC Tartan Day Parade Grand Marshal, Gail Porter, who led them in the mini parade across the bridge, and she has promised to walk with them over the Brooklyn Bridge when they get to the Big Apple in April.
Pulse of the Place is a youth samba drumming band and has been in existence for about 15 years now. Previously the group has been part of the entertainment at the 2012 Paralympics, and has toured to Brighton Manchester and Liverpool.
A member of the group, Arwen Seilman (17), explained that it is all about showing children and young people that anyone can hit a drum, and that it is really about getting together with others and forming a band.
She continued: “It’s open to anyone and everyone. We run free sessions so it doesn’t matter if you can’t afford it – because a lot of time the arts can be quite expensive now. But it is all about inclusivity and making sure that everybody gets the opportunity.
“I officially started drumming when I was about seven. The atmosphere when you’re drumming as a band is amazing.
“It’s costing a lot of money to go to New York. There are 39 of us going all together. We have been fundraising for a number of years now. We have had to raise £55,000 and we have written funding applications, and doing fundraising and sponsorship.”
Anyone who wishes to donate towards the final few pounds that is needed to help Pulse of the Place reach their target can do so here.
Hand Up Events Director, Tania Pramschufer, also joined the walk ensuring that all the members of the band had a snood made of World Fair Trade Tartan, signifying their inclusion in the World Fair Trade Tartan clan. Hand Up Events created the tartan to promote Scotland as a Fair Trade Nation. This particular tartan is woven by House of Edgar for kilts, but Tanya explained that a variety of other materials are made in many other countries all adhering to the principles of Fair Trade.
Gail Porter is still getting over the surprise of being named Grand Marshal of the New York City Tartan Day Parade which takes place on 15 April stepping off at 2pm up Sixth Avenue.
She told us: “I am super excited. I was just going to come along with FairTrade Scotland and the guys from Pulse of the Place and walk with them. Then I got a phone call saying actually do you want to be the Grand Marshal and be at the front of the parade? I said yes to these guys first so I said they have to come with me. Where I go, they go. So they are going to be at the front of the parade as well.
“It’s a complete honour and I am a bit shocked – I do wonder if people really know who I am. After all Billy Connolly has done it and KT Tunstall all these amazing people and then me from Portobello. And all I do is talk a lot on TV and radio and lots for charity.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
