Hose For Hope party for bush recovery

Oxford Street will be alive with the spirit of giving on Friday February 7 when eight of Sydney’s most popular night clubs host a “roaming club night” to raise money for bushfire recovery. Hose For Hope is a multi-venue fundraising event being run jointly by Stonewall, Arq, Bear Bar, The Colombian, The Oxford, Universal, Palms, and The Beresford. 

Glenn Hansen from Stonewall says:  

“With all the bushfires and everything that was happening, I thought this is a great time for us to get together with the clubs and raise some much needed funds.” 

Based on similar events held in the past, the clubs are setting their goal at  $50,000

and feel confident about achieving.

Most of the money will come from the sale of wrist bands which will entitle wearers to unrestricted entry to each of the eight night clubs on the night. The $10 bands will be available for purchase at the participating nightclubs and select retail outlets on the day of the event. Sponsors have come on board to cover costs of producing the bands, providing donation buckets and promotional materials, which means every cent of the $10 will go to charity.

Each club is offering special promotions and entertainment to help raise more money. 

“For instance, the Beresford, they’re having drink on arrival if you buy the arm band there. People are putting on extra entertainment for that night,” explains Hansen.  “And we’ll also be doing things like, here [at Stonewall] we’re gonna do a dollar from every vodka Red Bull goes to the charity on the night.”

Donation buckets will be placed in various retail outlets during the week of the event. 

“Obviously we want the whole area to get involved – and we’re really wanting some of the shops. So whether the shops want to donate an auction prize… anything we can do on that Friday night to raise money,” says Hansen. 

Clubs will start selling wrist bands from around 6pm on the night and the festivities will go through to closing time, around 3:30am for most clubs. 

An impressive line up of DJs, Drag Queens, performers and sponsors have eagerly stepped up to get involved.

A program of activities and entertainment will be posted by each club on their respective sites and also on the Sydney Pride website and Facebook pages. There will also be options on those pages for people to donate if they can’t make it to the event. 

Money raised will be apportioned three ways: WIRES, NSW Rural fire service and Rural mental health charities.

“Obviously there are things that are important to everyone,” says Hansen. “One of them is the animals, the other one is the fire service. Plus there’s the mental health. So I thought let’s concentrate on those three things to raise money for.”