A Northern Ireland guitar maker is raffling off a stunning custom-made guitar - a presentation OM series acoustic guitar - with a value of £6000, for a minimal ticket price of £10.
All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to Help Musicians NI who will use the money to assist struggling musicians in Northern Ireland. The guitar will be shipped for free and is available for worldwide entry.
Ciaran McNally is an acoustic guitar maker based in Co Armagh, who produces approximately 40 boutique and custom guitars per year.
Ciaran's instruments are a blend of traditional American and modern Celtic guitar styles.
Speaking about his generous idea, Ciaran commented; “Firstly as a music lover I’m becoming increasingly concerned about the Covid situation with venues and musicians, and seemingly limited government support.
"Like a lot of people during this time, I’ve also been trying to think of a way to be useful. Doing something that can help musicians in this manner, with an instrument, is a way for me to utilise my skills in a positive way during the crisis.”
You can buy into the raffle and donate by going here.
Live music in crisis
The news comes as a new campaign set up during lockdown, titled Save Our Venues, has said that live music venues across Northern Ireland may have to rely on fundraising activities to make it through the winter.
This also comes just a week and a half after hundreds of live events workers in Belfast held a socially-distanced demonstration and called for the government to take stronger action to support the live events industry.
As a response, NI Finance Minister Conor Murphy has p romised to allocate £29 million in public funding to help the arts & cultural sector.
