Concert for Nepal: Live music returns to St Mark’s Church in Broomhill, Sheffield

It was set up around a kitchen table in Rotherham by a group of friends with a love for Nepal, and works in partnership with its local partner PHASE Nepal, to implement projects in remote areas of the country. The charity is hosting a night of classical music performed by Sheffield Sinfonietta, directed by Gordon Busbridge.

One of the founding members, Gerda Pohl, visited Nepal in 2005 and realised many of the remote villages do not have the same access to healthcare, education or medicine as we do in the UK. She, along with other founding members, set up PHASE Worldwide in order to raise funds to help change the lives of marginalised communities in the country.

The organisation also offers GPs from across the UK to visit Nepal, to share their medical knowledge with people and give them chance to practice the skills they need. Since 2014 PHASE Worldwide has expanded into Sheffield, Leeds, and Bristol, supporting some of the remotest areas in Nepal, including: Humla, Bajura and Gorkha.

Organiser of the concert and retired GP Dilys Noble, 75, said: “What PHASE is doing is changing lives. We work to a theory of change, how to change people’s lives in Nepal, but also of the GPs who go there. They go out there with the nurses eating Dahl and rice, sitting on the floor, sleeping in the same room, going to the squat toilets down the street, washing under a tap and seeing the patients in the clinics happy and not complaining. They come back feeling completely rejuvenated.”

The charity also funds agricultural projects, such as improving the products that are already grown in Nepal, like cabbages and carrots. It has introduced mushroom farming, goat farming and poultry to improve the villagers’ livelihoods and ability to earn money.

Lalkala, an active member of a PHASE Livelihood farmers group, said: “In the past, we only had enough food for 6-7 months of the year. But now, I can produce enough vegetables to feed my whole family.”

When asked about the concert being free despite event prices being affected by inflation, Mrs Noble was aware of the prospect of the cost-of-living crisis possibly affecting donations. She said: “If you look at concert tickets at Sheffield City Hall, they’re usually over £20, and people like students really can’t afford that. We want to make as many people as possible aware of the event, and to make a donation of whatever they can afford.”

In total, 27,628 patients accessed PHASE Worldwide supported health posts, of which 4,520 were children under the age of five.

Violin soloists Hannah Thompson and Charlotte Pinder will perform at the concert, with director Busbridge who has visited Nepal himself. If listeners enjoy the performance, they are encouraged to donate to Phase Worldwide at the end of the night.

Concert for Nepal is being held at St Mark’s Church, Broomhill, S10 2SE, on Friday 4th November at 7.30pm.

To find out more about PHASE Worldwide’s work or to donate, visit www.phaseworldwide.org or email [email protected].