A MANCHESTER Million campaign is being set up to help boost the city's efforts in raising money for the Asian Tsunami appeal.

Already thousands of us have organised events and donated cash to help the survivors of the Boxing Day disaster. However, the idea is to pool these resources to get a running total of the amount raised in the city, with the hope of pushing this to more than one million pounds over the next three months.

Spokesman for Manchester Million John Locke explains: "It became apparent that many of us were doing our bit as far as raising money for the Tsunami appeal was concerned. The only difficulty appears to be that the events may begin to tread on the toes of each other - with similar artists being asked to appear at different events and venues organising shows at the same time as each other etc.

"To get round this we've decided to create a focal point with a website which will list and promote all events - big or small. The site will also keep a record of the total amount raised in the city, which we hope will keep up interest in the appeal as we see how much of a collective contribution we are making."

John and his team have given the Manchester Million a proposed running time of three months which will kick-off with a fundraiser at Manchester Apollo on January 30 and culminate in a huge gig at the M.E.N. Arena, with the date to be announced.

"We can't reveal names just yet but it will be the best of Manchester music and comedy and we're hoping to raise about a quarter of a million in one night alone."

John Thomson

Bands Elbow and I Am Kloot have already signed up for the Apollo gig and the following night sees Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, play a set for a variety fund-raiser at the Comedy Store, with stand-up from John Thomson, John Bishop and Justin Moorhouse.

However, the event doesn't have to be huge to join the umbrella fund. Anything from the massive arena gig to a school raffle can be included. And the best thing about it is that the money will not be pooled by the organisers but instead will go directly to the fund to reach the people who need it now.

"We don't want the money sitting around," adds John. "We want people to pay any money raised directly into a bank, via Oxfam or whichever charity they chose, and then give us an authorised receipt so that we can keep a running total of all the money raised in the city. The idea is simply to give a focal point for events and to show Mancunians what they can and have achieved."

The website should be up and running by next week when the M.E.N. will give full details on where to find it. Tweet