Dozens of people including Brighton MP Caroline Lucas flocked to Jing Massage yesterday (Thursday 2 March) to pamper themselves while helping others.
It was all part of a massage-a-thon in aid of three Sussex charities dedicated to helping refugees in need – namely The Hummingbird Project, Brighton Voices in Exile and The Flying Seagull Project. The Jing Massage team came together to donate their hands and hearts to a massage marathon, raising much-needed cash for the humanitarian cause.
After a morning workshop for wannabe massage therapists which 28 people attended, 72 charitable people lined up to be massaged. It took eight hours – from 2 pm until 10 pm – for the Jing team to complete the jam-packed timetable of back-to-back bookings. Bighearted Brightonians dug deep and donated more than £5,000 in total – and donations are still coming in and being counted up.
Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavillion, had a late-afternoon pamper session with Jing director Rachel Fairweather. Caroline has been a long-term advocate of refugee aid causes and relished the chance to take part in yesterday’s discussion. Jing described her as an ‘ever-inspirational local hero’ in their latest Facebook update.
With the lovely people at @JingMassage who are raising funds for refugee groups – uniting head, hands & heart for a better world #Brighton
— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) March 2, 2017
In addition to the treatments, Jing staff put out donation buckets in the hope of raising an extra £100 or so. They were shocked to discover charitable passers-by had left a whopping £650 in the buckets at the end of the day. Therapists all over the UK were also encouraged to take part remotely, and their donations are still flowing in.
Nina Frizoli, director of student experience at Jing, said: “The amount of response that we’ve had from our community has been very humbling.
“It makes me want to cry thinking about it! It’s just mind blowing and it goes to show what you can do when people come together.”
Tash Mills added: “It’s an amazing cause and we’ve been overwhelmed with the support we’ve seen!”
For more information about Jing massage, visit the website.