Portsmouth musicians to stage virtual gigs to raise money for children's hospice

Harvey Jay Dodgson and Matisse Moretti, lead singer of band, FLOWVERS, are helping Naomi House & Jacksplace to launch music campaign, ‘Naomi & Jack’s Sessions’, a series of virtual charity gigs on Facebook Live.

The charity is launching this fundraising campaign with musicians across the south, who will live stream a gig from their Facebook page every weekday at 8pm asking viewers to donate to the hospice after its fundraising income plummeted due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Both Portsmouth musicians will be playing this week.

Matisse will be playing a solo acoustic set from 8pm tomorrow (April 1). He and three friends formed FLOWVERS in 2016, taking inspiration from the sound of the late 80s and 90s through to now.

They have just released their debut Throwaway Generation EP with support from Radio 1, BBC Introducing and Radio X.

Harvey will be live streaming on his Facebook on Thursday (April 2). The 18-year-old singer-songwriter, whose influences range from Miles Kane to Jamie T, had his debut release Indigo featured by BBC Introducing and he will be releasing new music for the summer.

Jeff Powell, owner of Big Hug Management, which represents both Harvey and FLOWVERS, said: ‘Music can help people pull through these testing times and we are proud to support the work that Naomi House & Jacksplace do.’

It comes after the hospice suspended planned respite care and turned to focus just on end-of-life care service, as well as preparing to support the NHS as required.

Paul Morgan, director of fundraising and communication, said: ‘As a charity, coronavirus has hit us hard, with respite services temporarily suspended and fundraising income coming almost to a complete stop.

‘So we thought, what better way to uplift our communities, staff and families, whilst raising vital funds for our charity, than teaming up with the local music community.’

To watch the virtual gigs, viewers will need to visit the individual musician’s Facebook page at 8pm. Naomi House & Jacksplace has provided links to the gigs on its website and information of next week’s line up at naomihouse.org.uk/naomi-jacks-sessions

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