Concert at Majestic Square launches new Jigsaw Whanganui initiative

Jigsaw Whanganui's new initiative, 'Look After Your Local', launched this month with the aim of increasing awareness and raising funds after its original fundraising event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of the campaign, a free concert called 'Get Loud For Your Locals' is planned for Majestic Square on Saturday.

Jigsaw Whanganui spokesperson Eilish Graves said local rock band Whiskey Mama would be performing in the afternoon.

"They'll be playing for free, which is really awesome," Graves said.

"We'll also be using the event on Saturday to run an inequality privilege exercise with members of the public.

"We've taken the line exercises that you largely see in the US and put our own spin on it, and we'll be doing it in a circle.

"Basically, we'll be trying to drive home and symbolise that people in our community are facing inequality and there are different levels of privilege that people experience here.

"As you move closer to the circle you'll see that there are people trapped on the outside of society and there are people who are pushed to the focus of it."

Graves said the 'Look After Your Local' campaign would be purely online, with the aim of appealing to millennials in particular.

"We wanted to jump on the movement of 'support local' that's been created in places like the UK, with the 'Run 5 Donate 5 Nominate 5' that someone started for the NHS.

"The main focus of the campaign is to increase the awareness around social services providers such as jigsaw and the role we play in the community.

"I think a lot of people think that we're sheltered from inequality here, but it is happening in our own communities and things like Covid-19 will have far-reaching effects, long after the lockdown period."

The 'Get Loud For Your Locals' concert will run from 12pm to 2.30pm on Saturday afternoon at Majestic Square.

For more information on the 'Look After Your Local' campaign, visit

https://www.facebook.com/LookAfterYourLocal or

https://www.facebook.com/jigsawwhanganui