We are writing this blog following the hosting of our very first K-Pop Charity Concert Online (lovingly called 'KCCO') on Sunday 21st March 2021. You will read below how we went from its inception to the final showcase within weeks. We surpassed all expectations and are so thrilled with its success.
We gave the concert the tagline of, "For The Love of K-Pop" as we wanted to feature performances from artists who showed their love for K-Pop through dance and song, and we wanted the worldwide K-Pop community to enjoy their masterpieces!
We would like to thank everyone who participate - we wouldn't have been able to do any of this without their fabulous performances. A special thanks to Zozoann for co-hosting the event and expertly handling the technical hiccups!
Of course, we cannot forget the wonderful donors who allowed us to exceed our fundraising targets even before the concert had started!
So read on to find out about our journey to KCCO and whether we had any mishaps happen on the day! ;-)
Keep Calm and Carry On For The Love of K-Pop
LKS Team
THE WHY & THE WHAT
There is one fundamental aim that lies at the heart of London Kpop Street, and that is to give back to our community, be it through providing an ethical shopping experience, showcasing the talents of K-Pop artists, or through charitable donations.
We wanted to hold an event to raise funds for UK charitable organisations that support the two most relied-upon services in recent times - healthcare and food banks. Therefore it was a no-brainer that we would create an event where we could raise funds for NHS Charities Together (NHSCT) and The Trussell Trust. We contacted both charities who readily provided us with resources and promoted our event themselves.
Even though it is a well-established charity, NHSCT was thankful for what they said was an original way of fundraising with the special K-Pop community. The Trussell Trust was very grateful to us for raising awareness of the work they do, and were so encouraging prior to our first concert, and pleased when we had exceeded our set targets.
NHS Charities Together
NHSCT is a nationally vital organisation which supports NHS staff, volunteers and patients by providing a forum for nationwide fundraising and campaigns to support the NHS.
The Trussell Trust
The Trussell Trust is hugely depended upon by people who have faced hardship in the pandemic. It strives to ensure that nobody goes hungry in the UK by providing emergency food to those locked in poverty and their vision is for the UK to no longer have a need for food banks.
So what could we possibly do to raise funds for these wonderful charities?
We decided to host a K-Pop charity concert online. We wanted to bring some K-Pop cheer during the many recent lockdowns showcase and also thank donors by giving them a unique online concert experience.
We set up a JustGiving fundraising page for both charities, with targets of £150 each, at the time being nervous about whether we'd be able to meet our fundraising goals to help these charities. This was our first time organising and hosting an online concert, so we were learning as we went!
THE WHO & THE HOW
Once we had the idea in place, we knew who we wanted to be our performers for the day. With so many talented K-Pop university societies, and talented K-Pop fan artists in the UK, we immediately reached out to them and it was so wonderful to get immediate positive responses of support from them.
It was inspiring to have a number of UK societies represented from all parts of the UK! Below are all the amazing artists and performers who sent us their videos of K-Pop dance and vocal covers:
Planning for the event had its own challenges, but we kept our motivation by remembering the essential work done by these wonderful charities and were able to spread the word through our social media accounts and by word-of-mouth. Our LKS friends, members, and well-wishers really came through with their super support! With only 3 weeks of promotion, we exceeded all expectations!
THE WHERE & THE WHEN
The concert took place on the early evening of Sunday 21 March 2021 via YouTube live stream as the unofficial launch of our YouTube channel!
We had lots of people donating up until the last minute to the concert start and we furiously sent out personalised VIP e-tickets to those who donated for a keepsake of the event.
We exceeded the expected number of viewers on the day and were so humbled by everyone's positive comments, a few of which are shown below:
We enjoyed such a diverse range of dance and song covers from K-Pop bands and soloists!
KLASS - Movie Star by CIX
UCL - boyband & girlband medleys
Swansea - What Can I Do by DAY6
KChoreo - Undercover by ACE & Bomb by AleXa
QMUL and KCL - Helicopter by CLC
KCL - Here I Am by Baek Yerin & I Can't Stop Me by TWICE
OKay - Medley
KDS - 'Checkmate'
Konstellate & eKlipse - Lovesick Girls by Black Pink
LOKO - BTS Medley with Snuper
Leonie - original arrangement medley
Zozo - On The Ground by Rose
This was our first online event, so whilst we tried to foresee and pre-empt any technical issues, we did at one point leave our mics on enabling the audience to hear us 'backstage' praising the acts! It reminded us of when BTS did something similar which made us giggle.....
For those of you who heard us, we do apologise for the unplanned bonus entertainment!
We ended the show by treating the audience to snippets of Blood, Sweat & Tears by BTS, performed by The K-Tigers - Taekwondo dance group! Check out their videos on their YouTube channel, K-Tigers TV!
We will soon have a highlights video coming on our YouTube channel so that you can enjoy a summary of the show again smoothly. In the meantime we have a credits video to thank all our performers - please do check it out.
FINAL AMOUNT RAISED
We smashed our fundraising combined target of £300 and raised a total of £475.70 for both NHS Charities Together and The Trussell Trust!
We are so grateful to all the donors who helped us raise this wonderful amount and those who came to the concert. Without the enthusiasm of our performers, the kindness of our donors, and the support of our event-goers, none of this would have been possible - this inaugural KCCO will always have a soft spot in our hearts!
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
We are immensely proud of the UK K-Pop talent out there, the supportive K-Pop community, and are thankful for being able to host this concert for them! We enjoyed every moment!
This event is only the first of many to come in the future, both online and offline, so watch this space! Once we are able to, we eagerly look forward to meeting you all face to face at a future event one day. In the meantime, we already have ideas of how to make the online event bigger and better, and have several ideas in the pipeline for a possible K-Pop symposium in London!
WANT TO COLLABORATE?
If you would like to collaborate with us so you can showcase your art by being a guest blogger, helping us with giveaways, taking part in a future community event, or anything else, please do get in touch by email (info@londonkpopstreet.co.uk)
We would be thrilled to be able to work with you in the future!
If you want to know more about our KCCO performers, check them out on...
Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube:
LOKO, London Kpop Dance Workshop - @londonkpopdance | londonkpopdance | LondonKPopDanceWorkshop | LondonKPopDanceWorks
KChoreo, K-Pop Dance Society, Cardiff - @kchoreo | kchoreodance | KChoreo | KChoreo Dance
KLASS, UKC K-Pop Dance Society, Kent - @ukc_kpop | UKCKpopDanceSoc | UKC K-Pop Dance Society
Hi-Rise & Halcyon, KCL Korean Hallyu, London - @kclhallyu | kclhallyu | kclhallyu | KCL Korean Hallyu Society
K-Pop Dance Society, Leeds - @kds_leeds | kdsLeeds | KDS Leeds
Konstellate & eKlipse, University of Manchester KPop Society - @uomkpopsoc | uomkpopsoc | UoM K-Pop Society
OKay KPop Dance Group, Oxford - @_okaykpop | _okaykpop | oKay Oxford Kpop Dance | oKay kpop dance group
QMUL Korean Culture Society, London - @qm_kcs | QMULKoreanSoc | QMKCultureSoc
Swansea K-Pop Society - @swansea_kpopsoc | SwanseaKpopSoc | SwanseaKpopSociety | Swansea K-Pop Society
UCL K-Pop Society, London - @uclkpopsociety | UCLKpopSociety | UCL K-Pop Society
Leonie, K-Pop Artist - @leoniewitte
Zozo, K-Pop Artist & Co-presenter - @zozoann_ | ZozoAnn_ | ZozoAnn
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