Stirling Underground are combining DJ decks and donations with their Foodbank Fundraiser, promising a night of dancing dedicated to gathering resources for the university food bank.
This Saturday, 27 January, the upstairs of Slan-Ja-Va (formerly known as The Kilted Kangaroo) will be host to a night of mixed EDM from 9 pm until 1.30 am.
Entry is free with a donation, such as canned foods, toiletries or other non-perishable items. Registration for the event is encouraged, and can be done here.
The night will feature back-to-back sets from Stirling Underground resident DJs Trow, Archie, and Lee Howell.
Brig spoke to Archie, one of the organisers of Stirling Underground, who told us why the group planned the fundraiser: “We just wanted to help out, really. Often, we see it [the foodbank] is quite understocked.
“Our fundraiser is quite an innovative way of getting stock in there.”
Archie acknowledged that the foodbank does get filled often, however demand and lack of promotion means there are often empty shelves: “The foodbank gets restocked quite a lot- I see the science department sometimes put it up, but there’s not a constant stream of stuff getting put in there.”
Archie stressed the importance of supporting food banks, detailing why Stirling Underground was eager to contribute: “Now, more than ever, people are using food banks. It’s important that food banks can continue to support people.
“From a student’s perspective, a lot of people do struggle. With things like maintenance loans, people don’t get enough to pay their rent never mind their food bills, so how on earth can you afford to feed yourself?
“The importance of food banks to students is up there, it’s high. The food bank is always empty because it’s used.”
Stirling Underground primarily organises music events for pleasure and to connect Stirling’s EDM community. Archie told Brig about the joy of using their niche for good deeds: “It’s kinda cool to get a bit creative. It’s not all about generating profit- we want to help out, for the community aspect.
“That’s what it’s all about for us. We are bringing people together with music, but if we can get something else out of that [then] we can help out whilst enjoying ourselves.
“People make friends, good friends, when they come to our events. We’ve always had a community focus and feel to our events
“It’s cool to give to give back. We’re always focused on doing stuff to help out.”
The future of Stirling Underground includes more events, and potentially more fundraisers: “As a fourth year, this is my last semester so we are going to try and make the most of what’s left of my time here.
“Organising a night where people enjoy themselves, enjoying the music whilst doing something helpful… if we could do a few more of these, it would be great.”
The free tickets for this fun-raiser can be secured here.
Feature image credit: Stirling Underground, edited by Alex Paterson
Editor-in-Chief.
Twitter/X and BlueSky: @AlexPaterson01
