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‘Supersonic’ raises over £9,000 for Manchester Pride

Besi Besemar April 23, 2014

X Factor winner Sam Bailey performs at first class fundraiser.

Supersonic Fundraiser Manchester

Manchester Pride 2014 kicked off this years fundraising campaign in style by raising £9,185.88 for the Manchester Pride Community Fund at its annual event held under the wings of Concorde.

Hundreds of people from Manchester’s LGBT community and their friends attended to hear the winner of The X Factor 2013, Sam Bailey perform live.

The evening opened with a performance by Twisted Tubes, a ten piece brass fusion band comprised of current students and graduates from the Royal Northern College of Music, who surprised guests by emerging from Concorde itself and delivering a fun and theatrical set from the airplane’s steps.

Sam Bailey
Sam Bailey

Sam, who counts Gary Barlow, Sharon Osborne and Michael Bolton amongst her celebrity fans, brought the audience to its feet as she belted out tunes including her number one hit, Skyscraper and the title track from her number one debut album, The Power of Love. Her set closed with a standing ovation from the audience.

The evening was hosted by comedian Lee Peart, who previously hosted Manchester Pride’s Big Weekend in both 2012 and 2013. He led the crowds through a charity auction, which saw attendees bidding on a number of lots, including a VIP experience for 14 people at Miley Cyrus’ forthcoming concert at Manchester’s Phones 4U Arena, a tour of the brand new Coronation Street set at MediaCityUK and a Disneyland Paris® Christmas Experience.

The red-carpet gathering which included a sparkling drinks reception and four course dinner, plus VIP tours of the Concorde airliner, was attended by celebrity guests including Bruno Langley and his son, BBC Breakfast’s Stephanie McGovern and former Hollyoaks star Nicole Barber-Lane with her Emmerdale husband Liam Fox.

Charity patron and Emmerdale star, Alicya Eyo, welcomed guests to the event telling them: “Young people need pride, to know that it’s not only OK to be gay, it’s actually really brilliant to be gay.”

Mark Fletcher, Director at Manchester Pride, said: “What a night it was. We’d like to thank our guests for giving so generously and enabling us to more than double the amount we raised at last year’s Supersonic event that we’re able to donate to the charitable causes we support through the Manchester Pride Community Fund.

“Last year we raised £4,149 at our inaugural event and increasing this figure to £9,185.88 in year two has kicked off our 2014 fundraising campaign in the style that we aim to continue.

“The evening was great fun and embodied the true spirit of Manchester Pride: charity, good fun, local talent and amazing acts. Sam Bailey was breathtaking and got most of the room on their feet, Twisted Tubes and Felix Hagan and the Family were fantastic and ‘First officer’ Lee Peart tied it all together perfectly.”

Supersonic exists to raise money for the Manchester Pride Community Fund. This fund provides support for LGBT and HIV charities and organisations in Greater Manchester.

There’s much more to Manchester Pride than the Big Weekend and, since 2003, the festival has grown to include the Pride Fringe which encompasses a series of art, culture, heritage, debate, sport, music and film events celebrating the great diversity of the LGBT community. The Manchester Pride Festival 2104 kicks off this year on August 1 with the Pride Fringe.

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