I'm in a struggling band but I keep giving our money away – here's why

Looking out for the little guy has always come naturally to me. That doesn’t make me a hero, nor do I believe I am better than anyone else because of it. I am imperfect, flawed and floundering as most of us are.

I think there are a combination of factors that have made me so adamant about wanting to help causes where I can.

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Firstly, my mum. I grew up in a house with three sisters, my mum working several jobs and trying to work out how she could give us all culture and creativity with little to no budget. We wanted dance classes she couldn’t afford, so she opened her own dance school. I have very little memory of it being my mum’s school. I have seen photos of her with a money tin at the local youth centre but I had no concept of that. I remember loving dance classes, the costumes my mum would sew us late at night for each show, the excitement when I got a new pair of ballet shoes.

She worked overtime, tirelessly to buy us second hand instruments and get us lessons where she could. I had a clarinet when I was seven and I passed my grade five at 11. I had a saxophone for my 14th and singing lessons for my 16th birthday.

Coupled with her dedication to helping her daughters fulfil their dreams, whatever shape they were in, my mum would also help in the community. She has volunteered in soup kitchens, been an active member of various churches and charity drives. She held onto the idea that if you had enough, you gave a portion of what you had to those in need. She didn’t waste food either – if one of us left the freezer open she would cook everything and have an impromptu street party so everyone could help us eat it. In turn, when my family was in need a couple of times, the local church provided us with boxes of food essentials – and my mum turned these events into games, too.

Of course, like any family there were times of sadness, trauma and arguments, but largely I had a rich, vibrant, exciting, playful, colourful childhood that was surrounded with love and a lot of chaos, and I learned about kindness for other people and for animals.

The other reason is probably my early experiences with being bullied, then my experiences of domestic and sexual violence, and later my becoming vegan, much later still the awakening to the true historic horrors of colonisation, capitalism, the proxy wars for resources and land and the very real issue of white supremacy. All of these things have made me want to do good for other people: To protect those who are unable to protect themselves, to advocate for the oppressed and to stand in my beliefs with everything I have.

I have, since probably my early 20s, tried to fundraise or give to charities in various small ways, but it wasn’t until my band and I released our first album that I could see a real opportunity to make an impact. I finally had a bit of an audience who was engaged in what I was doing, and also pretty merch hungry! So, in 2020, in the run up to the album’s release, I pledged that every single we released would have associated, limited-edition merch, and a portion of every sale would go to a dedicated charity or charities.

Silent Screams was the first of three and that money went to Mind and Papyrus. The second single, Your Story, raised money for The Association Of NHS Charities, and the third single, Bitter, was dedicated to raising money for The Survivors Trust and Trussell Trust. Since then I have made a further nine donations to various charities for trans rights, mental health, Palestine, homelessness and more.

It feels good to know that I am in a position where I have the ability to help in these ways, often choosing charities when a group of people are being targeted. For example, our limited-edition merch drives during the last two Pride months have been for trans charities because they have received some of the worst hatred we have seen in years, taking us back to the hatred of gay people in the 60s and 70s, because of the vitriol from various celebrities, influencers and not-so-celebrity platformers using transphobia to gain traction.

I have most recently donated to Mercy Without Limits and MSF because of the merciless killing of civilians in Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria currently happening in the middle east.

Our next drives are going to be for domestic abuse and sexual violence charities, associated with our track Me Too, and I hope to also look into fundraising for the children of Sudan and Congo, who are undergoing brutal slavery and  displacement, and women are being raped and murdered in their thousands.

There are so many worthy causes across the globe and close to home and I want to make as positive an impact as I can through fundraising, and the raising of awareness by using the privilege I have of a captive audience and a not-so-small platform of tens of thousands of people. I hope I inspire other people to do the same, and I sincerely hope the small contributions I can make through my band are helping.

Millie Manders is lead vocalist of Millie Manders and the Shutup.

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