On Thursday 25th March, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together for Twestival Global 2010, a fundraising campaign for child poverty charity Concern Worldwide, and the Isle of Man is joining in.

"Social networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are getting to be popular in the Isle of Man, and so we thought the timing was right to get involved in Twestival," said Sherrilynne Starkie (pictured), founder of the Isle of Man Social Media Club, the organisation behind the initiative.

"This is a fun way to bring people, who may only know each other online, together while helping out a good cause."

Twestival (or Twitter Festival) uses social media to bring people together offline to rally around the important cause of education by hosting local events to have fun and create awareness.

All of the local events are organised 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to Concern Worldwide’s education projects.

IoM Twestival will take place at Jaks Bar & Steak House in Douglas.  The main event is going to be a performance and karaoke singalong with band Red.

The evening will include a silent auction, raffle and other fun, fundraising activities.  Further details will be released as plans are finalised.

A Short History of Twestival 

The first Twestival Global was held last year in 202 cities to support the charity Water. 

More than 1,000 volunteers and 10,000 donors raised US $250k+, which resulted in more than 55 wells in Uganda, Ethiopia and India having a direct impact for over 17,000 people.

It was a remarkable achievement by volunteers working under short timescales and utilising social media tools like Twitter to make it happen efficiently.

This year, the focus is on education and the 72 million children in the world who don’t have the opportunity to go to school.

Concern Worldwide was selected by the Twestival global team and local organisers because of its comprehensive and well-respected approach to education.

One hundred per cent of Twestival funds will go to project costs.  This includes material purchases as well as project activities such as construction of schools; rehabilitation of classrooms; teacher/management training; PTAs; HIV/AIDS school clubs; water and sanitation in schools; health education in schools; education advocacy; vocational/life-skills training for youth, farmers and women; and curriculum development for secondary school/university.

Twestival Local will take place in September 2010 and will benefit an Isle of Man charity, to be confirmed.