Selfless third year is putting on a huge charity club night this Thursday

Women’s rights officer for university’s Amnesty International Society, Olivia Simpson, is putting on a massive charity event at Buyers Club this Thursday.

The Law student from London has a strong passion for human rights and international law and desires to spread peace.

This Thursday 4th February, Olivia will be hosting a massive charity do at the new venue on Hardman Street.

Third year Olivia is raising money for Amnesty International AND St Anne’s Homes in South Africa

Expect old school AfroBeat and funky disco vibes with a live acoustic performance from South London’s freshest voice in Neo-Soul, Lily Wright.

There will also be DJ sets from Liverpool’s Abandon Silence’s resident DJ,  Andy Hill, as well as Melodic Distraction’s residents Josh Aitman, James Zaremba, and Tom Lye, AND DJ sets from Matthew Brundell and Røjyat Rekjaw.

Olivia has also sorted out a raffle with huge prizes ranging from two return Virgin train tickets from Liverpool to London and vouchers at Maray and Filter and Fox.

The Tab caught up with Olivia to find out more about her great endeavour:

What can people expect at the event?

 “People can expect to have a great time with great vibes, and great karma for doing a good thing. Bring your kind hearts!”

 Have you done an event like this before?

 “Yes, I’ve done a charity event before when I was 15 for breast cancer care. I found an article in the news saying that black women were susceptible to breast cancer 30 years before their white counterparts, I called up Breast Cancer to ask if it was true and they confirmed it was.

“It shocked me so I put on a night of performers and raised £1,500 for breast cancer care. I have always wanted to be active with things I think I can change or at least try.”

Tell us about the charity. Who will money go to and how will it help?

“St Anne’s Homes provides shelter, care, and empowerment of destitute, abused and disadvantaged mothers and their children in Cape Town, South Africa.

“They are motivated by the principle of empowerment and do their best to enable disadvantaged and distressed women and their children to find relief, support and a chance to become independent, confident and self-sufficient.

“When I visited them I got to lead a meditation class with some of the women, to encourage them to realise that they can always have peace in their own mind and not to be hard on themselves when life is already hard on them.

“The charity really touched my heart as I connected to the women and would love to know that there was somewhere for me to go like that if I were ever in a similar situation the women there.

“The money will help St Anne’s shelter put towards facilities, especially because at the moment there is a long waiting list of women trying to get in there and they can only stay there for six months until they get themselves back on their feet.

“More money means more facilities for more women and children to have more support and most importantly peace.

“We are also raising money for Amnesty International who campaign for a world where human rights are for all. I am the women’s rights officer for our university Amnesty International Society and have had a lot of support from everyone in the society, which has been great!”

How did you get involved with the charity?

“Last summer Millie Montiel McCann and I spent some time on the Law & Human Rights Project and got to visit St Anne’s Women’s shelter.

“We found the trip so inspiring that the shelter houses women and their children in a safe environment -many of whom are trying to escape turmoil in their lives.

“We also run a weekly radio show called Tropical Tunes and we kept discussing how we could do more, so we decided to put on an event in Liverpool to raise money for St Anne’s via our University’s Amnesty International Society.”

How much do you expect to raise?

 “I didn’t want to put a figure on it initially because I was scared of the success of the event amongst students, who, as we all know can struggle with their own money, never mind charity.

“However, I’m hopeful that it will be a success so I will say £1,000 (even if we have to do another event in summer- I’m determined to make at least £1,000 to make a real difference).”

 Do you think you’ll host any events like this in the future?

“I really hope so, I LOVE doing these events. I want to keep going and eventually do them globally!”

For more details on the huge charity event on Thursday you can visit Olivia’s Facebook event. 

If you can’t attend Thursday’s event but would like to support Olivia in raising money you can donate to the Just Giving page here.  

Or if you just want to know more about St Anne’s and support them directly visit here.