Echo International Aid is set to host a Pop up bar at the Old Melbourne Gaol on Friday 22nd July 2016 to raise funds for Echo’s 2016 annual appeal.
The innovative social enterprise event which is to be held in one of Melbourne’s most historic and notorious landmarks will be opened after dark where attendees will be able to party for a cause with all funds raised on the night going towards meaningful international aid projects. 100% of ticket and bar proceeds will go directly to the projects.
Matt Doll Thomas from the Aussie pop group the Mavis’s will be headlining the music and entertainment. Cells of the gaol will be transformed into pop up bars, attendees will also be able to have rare after dark access to all three levels of the gaol, some may even bump into the ghosts of former inmates.
The event is seeking to raise funds for urgent projects that will support Karen refugees displaced from Burma living on Thailand/Burma border. Estimates show that more than 150,000 displaced peoples are living in border refugee camps and an unaccounted number living stateless in the surrounding jungle region.
Funds raised in the 2016 annual appeal will go towards providing additional scholarships, citizenships, emergency food aid and the development of what will be the first school library for a remote village at the Thai/Burma border. With the introduction of the library, students within the region will have access to educational resources that have never been previously available. That is the power of generosity.
Attendees that come dressed as the classic Australian anti hero Ned Kelly, who is the gaols most infamous inmate that met his fate will receive a free glass of champagne. “It’s not often you can have a great night out and make a positive difference to those less fortunate”, says Jeremi Wallace, Echo International aid President. “In this tough climate of standing out from the busy crowd of international aid fundraising we believe that we have developed an event that is compelling and fun, Who wouldn’t like to party for a cause.”