Soul Agents tune up to raise thousands for Israeli NGO
Natal, a leading Israeli mental health group, is being supported by UK musicians
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
Tony Abrahams is a self-described “old muso” who runs several different bands popular on the London music scene.
He and his band-mates make many appearances — some for charity, some not — and over the years have raised millions for good causes.
He even has a band called Rock Shabbat UK, which plays the Friday night service to soft rock music.
But his latest venture stems directly from the events of October 7 2023 — as with his band, The Soul Agents, he is running two (so far) nights to help the Israeli organisation, Natal, the country’s premier mental health NGO.
Abrahams told Jewish News: “A lot of people here felt pretty useless and wanted to do something to help Israel. My daughter lives in Israel and my sister-in-law in Tel Aviv told me about Natal. It just seemed a perfect fit — they are not military, they are not political.”
Initially, he said, it was going to be just one event — which took place last week, but it sold out really quickly and so he has arranged a second evening at Dyrham Park golf club in October, which has had a similar sell-out response.
“We got great feedback”, Abrahams said. “Some people were concerned about doing an event which might look flippant, but actually people really want to come together and just spend a couple of hours having a good time to music”.
Natal specialises in mental health and trauma support and its workload soared by a huge amount in the wake of the October 7 murders and kidnappings. Abrahams says the demand for the music and interest in Natal is such that he may have to consider a third function.
Donations to the UK Friends of Natal can be made via PayPal Giving
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