Teenage singer Shakila Karim will be performing at a series of gigs to raise money for the victims of the Nepal Earthquake.
Seventeen year old Shakila begins her marathon musical effort at the Joyce Frankland Academy in Newport, Essex, on the evening of the 27th June. Shakila’s aim is to perform a ‘Marathon of Gigs’ – that is, to sing at 26 gigs (one gig for each full mile of a marathon) in order to raise money for those in Nepal whose lives have been disrupted by the recent earthquake. She still needs a few more venues to get to the full marathon of gigs – so she’s asking for help from venue owners, operators and charities for Nepal to help achieve her goal.
Her next gig will be at the Hertford Corn Exchange on 2nd July – and this will be followed by a performance at The Rhodes Centre, in Bishops Stortford on the 15th of July.
Shakila, who was inspired to embark on a Marathon of Gigs after seeing this year’s London Marathon, said, “I’m from east London and, every year, we watch the marathon runners. This year, on Marathon Day, the news was full of the terrible earthquake in Nepal – and I thought about what I could do to help alleviate the people’s suffering.
“Although I’m no marathon runner, I thought that I could, at least, perform a ‘Gigathon’ to help raise funds for these people. If I can do these 26 performances, I know it will raise much needed money to help the people of Nepal get their lives back together.
“I have friends who’re from Nepal,” said Shakila, who’s a sixth form student at the Joyce Frankland Academy in Newport, Essex. The academy contains many students who are children of Gurkhas serving with the British armed forces.
“We all know how well the Gurkhas have served – and continue to serve - our country. It would be good if we, in Britain, could do something to serve them,” said Shakila.
Twitter: @1Shakila
