Local musos creating Christmas cheer for a cause

It has been a difficult time for charities Australia-wide with the coronavirus pandemic shutting down so many of their normal fundraisers. With the country slowly but steadily returning to normal, HD Awareness Orange is looking to hold its first fundraiser for 2020 and spread a bit of Christmas cheer at the end of a tough year.

“Normally throughout the year we are selling raffle tickets and having cocktail parties or high teas or something and we haven't been able to do anything like that,” said Rachael Brooking, the driving force behind HD Awareness Orange.

At just 18, Rachael’s life changed forever when her mother was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease and she became her carer. Her mum passed away in 2003 at just 50 years of age and now Rachael works to raise awareness for this debilitating disease and the huge impact it has on individuals and their families.

A musician and lover of all things music, Rachael realised that this Christmas would look (and sound) very different with restrictions on public singing and so came up with an idea to bring music to Orange homes this festive season, while spreading awareness of Huntington’s Disease.

“Music is a huge part of Christmas for me, that's for sure! It dawned on me that there would be very little of that Christmas music cheer this year… no Christmas concerts at Schools, there are no choirs going to sing for the retirement homes and the aged care facilities, they aren't going to the Children's ward to spread some Christmas musical joy to people and even the musicians around town aren't doing Christmas parties like normal,” said Rachel.

“So I thought, that's not good; we need to fix that!”

Enlisting the help of some of our talent local artists, Rachael is putting together a virtual Christmas concert, Hark the Orange Angles sing for Huntingon’s, which will be put out as a live-streaming fundraiser at 7pm on Sunday 20 December.

“Craig from Dotted Eight Studio has done an amazing job! We’ve got a Christmas set that looks really beautiful and we have twelve amazing Central West artists from Celia Rochelli to Robbie Mortimer, to Cath Adams to Jarrod Draper. And in amongst those are three members of Huntington families who are also going to sing carols,” said Rachael.

The live stream will also feature facts about Huntington’s Disease, the impacts of which are not well understood by the general public. There will also be a link to a donations page to support the not-for-profit HD Awareness Orange.

“Get online donate, watch and sing along in your living rooms, because you are allowed to sing in your living room, at the top of your lungs!” said Rachael.

“There will be quite a range of songs; a few carols, but lots of Christmas songs, some oldies and lots of new ones — and all the singers sound absolutely amazing!”

For those who still would like to get close to the experience of a live concert event, Hark the Orange Angles sing will also be screened at the Odeon 5 Cinema, 7pm on December 23.

“I'm really excited, it will be very festive,” said Rachael. “And all money raised will go to HD Awareness Orange, our little organisation whose main focus is spreading education and awareness in the Central West about Huntington's because there is very little known about it…

‘Huntington’s is such a complex disease and the impact that it has on families is huge, because it has such a high genetic risk, so people are often dealing with one, two, three or even more in their immediate family."

They also have the knowledge that their children may be 50 per cent at risk of inheriting so there is that gravity where other diseases don't have that genetic component.

The ticket for the cinema screening are available from Collins Bookstore or stickytickets.com.au

Visit the HD Awareness Orange Facebook page for more details and link to the live streaming event.