The majority of the money needed to start Temwa was raised by the MONSTERPIECE nights, in particular by a band called Babyhead. This initial period was truly inspirational; it was amazing to see a dedicated group of people working totally for free, organising events to raise funds for a charity idea that founders Jo Hook and Sophie Elson had on returning from a trip to Africa. The aim was to start a project to help families affected by the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Malawi. Research was undertaken, whilst fundraising, to decide how best to start the project.

Jo Hook and Babyhead frontmen Tom Q and Ben Bloodworth became acquainted when they, other members of the band, and their friends, organised MONSTERPIECE club nights at a Bristol venue called the Thekla to showcase local bands in 1998/1999. In 2002 Sophie and Jo asked Tom if they could use the MONSTERPIECE name to organise a new night to showcase current bands. However, this time, all the bands would play for free and all the money raised from the night would go towards founding Temwa. Tom and the MONSTERPIECE crew agreed. Wanting to keep up the established reputation MONSTERPIECE had for groundbreaking, energetic, and often enigmatic acts, Tom, Krishna, Ben and Cathy began a fundraising and event-organising journey that has not ended. Use the menu on the left to view the flyers from these events from throughout the years.

Without the support of all the acts and DJs involved in MONSTERPIECE, Temwa may never have started. The MONSTERPIECE crew still show constant support to Temwa, regularly organising and helping out at the fundraising events that take place every month. A massive thank you to them for their commitment.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to say a big ‘thank you’ to Becky Hubbard and Full Cycle, who organised a night at the Level in Bristol in 2003; Marie from Marine Parade, who organised a night at Cargo in London; Jo McGarry who organised club nights in Dublin and Ireland and Laura Ballin who organised a street art exhibition with local graffiti artists at the Tobacco Factory. These were the very first events that provided the initial funding to start the project. We are very grateful for everyone’s support in those early days – a massive thank you to all involved.