There was a packed house at Underbelly’s Circus Hub on Wednesday, where a special gala performance of Danny MacAskill’s Drop and Roll raised £6,915 in support of OneCity Trust’s work in Edinburgh.
The reaction from the Wednesday night audience was immense with both the children and the adults making it the noisiest show so far.
The Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development Ben Macpherson MSP (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) and Underbelly’s directors Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood were among those making a noise as Danny MacAskill, Duncan Shaw and Alex Coleborn showed off the biking tricks which have made them household names.
Danny MacAskill’s Drop and Roll is proving hugely popular with many shows throughout the run selling out, though there are still some tickets available for weekday shows.
The gala was the Underbelly’s latest initiative to raise money for OneCity Trust’s work, following the £29,000 they raised at Edinburgh’s Christmas at Silent Light and at the Torchlight Procession at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay.
The mission of the OneCity Trust is to fight inequality and exclusion in the City of Edinburgh. Established in 2003 in response to the OneCity report of the Lord Provost’s Commission on Social Exclusion, the Trust uses the idea of a ‘community foundation’ to give people and organisations a means to reach across the divides of the city and support those who are excluded from the community.
Recent studies have shown that Edinburgh is a wealthy city, with incomes 9% higher than the national average. However, this wealth is not shared with all in the city, as 22% of all Edinburgh households are living in relative income poverty.
Although homelessness is falling in Edinburgh, we have the highest homelessness application rate of all large urban Scottish local authorities.
People living in the most deprived areas of Edinburgh are twice as likely to die before 75 from heart disease when compared to the Edinburgh average.
The Trust fulfils its mission by initiating and funding projects in many areas, including education, social welfare, human rights, inequalities and poverty.
Its priorities are to support projects which actively bring people together from across divides, have long-term social inclusion benefits, are low-cost but high-impact, add value to existing initiatives, provide a rapid response to problems recently identified or offer innovative and collaborative methods for addressing social exclusion.
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Underbelly is a UK based live entertainment company. Their events and festivals division operates one of the largest operations at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, selling over 460,000 tickets for over 200 shows, in 22 venues over 25 days in 2018.
2018 was the sixth year Underbelly produced Edinburgh’s Christmas for City of Edinburgh Council which saw 771,074 tickets sold to visitors from more than 40 countries, and the second year of producing Edinburgh’s Hogmanay also on behalf of City of Edinburgh Council, which welcomed 160,000 over 3 days.
2019 marks the eleventh year of Underbelly Festival on the Southbank – one of the biggest multi-arts offerings in London and London’s original pop-up festival, with over 140 shows programmed over 6 months on the South Bank.
Underbelly also produces Christmas in Leicester Square, Udderbelly Festival in Hong Kong, West End Live in Trafalgar Square for Westminster City Council and the Society of London Theatre.
In 2018 Underbelly sold over 1.5 million tickets to their various events.
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