Fans and followers of the social media website Twitter and their friends gathered yesterday to take part in one-off charity events across the UK, and the world, hoping to raise over £200k for education projects run by charity Concern Worldwide.

Tapping into a wider trend of social media for social good, over two thousand people attended events across the UK, already raising over £36 thousand and rising. The 26 British and Irish Twestival’s joined 175 cities around the world to come together to raise money, have fun and create awareness.

The Cable Club in London hosted over 700 people raising £12,000, Bristol smashed its target raising a fantastic £4,000, Ireland raised over £1,000, and Farnham took over a castle for the night.

Claire Thompson, one of the UK co-ordination team said, “We’re all on a huge high. Our teams have been fitting in organising events around their day jobs so it is fantastic to see all their hard work pay off - we’re so excited to see the money come rolling in for Concern’s brilliant work”

All local Twestivals are organised 100% by volunteers and 100% of ticket sales and donations go direct to the charity’s projects. The theme of this year’s Twestival Global is education, and Concern was chosen by the Global and Local Twestival teams for the work it does addressing the needs of the world’s 72 million poor and marginalised children who don’t have the opportunity to go to school.

In order to better meet a goal of 100 percent donation, Twestival’s all-volunteer organizers have partnered with PayPal, which allows supporters to donate via WhatGives?! widgets, waiving all fees up to $1 million. In addition Citrix Online has donated GoToMeeting to all those who are organising Twestival events, and Amiando has waived all credit card ticketing fees to Twestival events, allowing for 100 percent of money raised to benefit Concern Worldwide projects directly.

In addition to the offline events on March 25, Twestival extended its online reach with such activities which are still live, such as TwestivalFM, allowing high-profile artists and musicians around the world including Moby, Jet, Metric and Ryan Adams to donate their songs to download for donations; Auction140, a global online auction of celebrity-donated items and experiences on eBay from celebrity Twitter users like Justin Bieber, Stephen Fry, Imogen Heap that features a live Twitter stream for the first time; an iPhone application; and live donations and results widgets that will enable real-time donations at local events. Twestival also has partnered with Ustream to live stream the day’s events, starting in New Zealand and ending in Hawaii.

Originating in London, Twestival has become a global success story since its inception in 2008, with the festival turning into an annual international fundraising event, often referred to as LiveAid 2.0.

To find out more visit - http://www.uk.twestival.com/

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