Concerts for Carers, a charity initiative, and telecommunications giant O2, have announced more venues are joining the scheme to provide free tickets to shows for National Health Service (NHS) and paid care workers.
The scheme has been running for six months to give back to NHS and care workers with free tickets to top events. The workers sign up and apply for shows they would like to attend with requests then entered into a ballot. If successful, workers are notified that they have won tickets to their preferred events.
Available venues will now also include The Scottish Events Campus (SEC) (pictured), which has committed to provide tickets for the OVO Hydro, SEC Armadillo and Lomond Auditorium Glasgow.
Other venues already partnered with Concerts for Carers include The O2 in London, Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, O2 Academy Bristol, O2 Victoria Warehouse, O2 Ritz and O2 Apollo Manchester, O2 Newcastle City Hall and O2 Guildhall Southampton. There are some 27 venues signed up to offer free tickets for NHS workers and paid carers.
Since the launch of Concerts for Carers, 25,000 NHS and paid care workers have registered for tickets to over 250 shows. More than 2,250 tickets have been given away for concerts from artists such as Stormzy, Liam Gallagher, Tom Jones, Elton John, Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber and Queen with Adam Lambert and more.
Across the next six months, NHS and paid care workers will have the opportunity to see live performances from artists such as Blondie, Dua Lipa, Foals, Emeli Sandé, Bastille and others.
Debbie McWilliams, director of Live Entertainment at SEC, said: “We all owe our NHS and paid care staff a tremendous debt of gratitude for the work they have done and continue to do and we are delighted to be able to support Concerts for Carers by giving back to them in this way.”
Co-founder of Concerts for Carers Mark Lambert added: “We are delighted to be partnering with the SEC who are generously providing sets of tickets to all of the shows at the Scottish Event Campus to NHS and paid care staff registered with Concerts for Carers. The SEC is the latest venue to be added to our growing list of venues across the UK, helping us further our mission throughout the UK in partnership with the O2 in recognising and giving thanks to those who are there for us when we need it most.”
Nuala Donnelly, head of music partnerships and sponsorship at Virgin Media O2, said: “O2’s partnership with Concerts for Carers is instrumental in our ambitions to thank NHS and Paid Carers and what better way to do this than giving them access to some of the best live events and concerts in the UK.”
Image: Office of US Ambassador to UK/Public domain/Edited for size