Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Singing out over homeless plight
Joshua backs musicians’ campaign
SINGER songwriter Joshua Burnside has thrown his support behind a campaign to help homeless people.
Musicians Against Homelessness, which is run in conjunction with the Simon Community, has already raised more than £100,000.
It returns this year with a host of gigs and festival link-ups.
Joshua, who’s debut album Ephrata won the Northern Ireland Music Prize, said: ‘When I first started exploring Belfast as a teenager I would rarely notice a homeless person. Then I went to Manchester University and the difference was huge. Friends of mine had started putting on gigs at an old furniture warehouse for the homeless, I came along to help out and perform myself.
“It was an opportunity to help people less fortunate than ourselves, and to be honest it was also a chance to alleviate my guilt for every time I avoided eye contact with the homeless man.
“I came to release that it if weren’t for the support of friends and family, it would be an easy thing to fall between the gaps in the system. Former Oasis manager and MAH driving force Alan Mcgee, said: “It’s wonderful we are again able to support people in Northern Ireland and we hope many people will get behind the project to put on gigs.
“We’re living in an inhumane society where suffering is common place and solutions are not forthcoming. Thousands and thousands of people are homeless or living in abject poverty.
“We can’t ignore this and hope that it goes away or fixes itself.”
More than 1,000 bands have played around 250 gigs for MAH since 2016.
For more details on the events and gigs visit www.facebook.com/mahgigs.