We Love MCR Charity funded Hallie-Codie for equipment for her home studio, so she can record, produce and promote her own music.
Hallie-Codie is a fantastic young woman from Newton Heath, who works part time as a cleaner whilst also being a full time carer for her mum since the age of 12. That’s a lot of responsibility for a young person at the best of times, so this past year will have been even harder. However Hallie-C has always had one thing that has kept her going, and that is her dream to be a performer.
Dancing professionally as a child, appearing in pantomimes at the Palace Theatre on Oxford Road, rapping from the age of 9 and as a teenager appearing on local Unity Radio – clearly this is something that shone through her from young, and something she won’t let go. When she told us about what her rapping means to her specifically, she said “I began rapping to take my mind off things and it allows me to calm down and takes me to a different zone within my mind and my thoughts”. Clearly it’s more than just the love of music to Hallie-C.
She’s performed at many events and was an events and arts coordinator at Manchester Carnival, which is a longstanding landmark in the calendar for Manchester’s Afro-Caribbean community, and a huge occasion. She’s done all of these fantastic achievements as a member of KYSO youth group, who supported her application and are one of our new referral partners for the Manchester’s Rising Stars Fund. Our referral partner network encompasses a large proportion of Manchester’s biggest and best youth organisations and allows brilliant young people doing brilliant things to be signposted to our fund more efficiently.
Most of Hallie-C’s income goes towards supporting her mum, and the barriers that expensive equipment costs throw up are way too common in the music industry for people, especially women, from working class backgrounds. We awarded Hallie the funds needed for equipment to set up a home studio to allow her to record, produce and promote her own music. The home studio will vitally enable her to fulfil her caring responsibilities while still following her passion.
In Hallie-C’s own words:
“I want to say a huge thank you to the We Love Manchester Charity for choosing me as a successful applicant. The award they will give me towards home studio equipment will really benefit me in enhancing my creative skills and producing music/content during these uncertain times. I will also be able to continue working from home which will allow me to keep myself and family members safe whilst still being able to follow my dreams”
It goes without saying that Hallie-C is a Rising Star, and we hope to see her around town in the coming years as a performer – and we’ll keep you updated! The team at We Love MCR is so proud to have funded this talent in her efforts.