What's So Great About Sheffield?

Floodhounds

Habberdash

I've lived here in Sheffield my whole life and I love it for a number of reasons. When I decided to stay here to study at University, everybody asked me why."Aren't you sick of being in Sheffield?" Honestly? No.Just over a month ago I landed a job as a Student Ambassador for The I Paper. Given that this was my first stint working for a newspaper, I was over the moon. Our first task was to organise a charity music event in our hometown.iSessions, which was launched by The Independent this year, is a nationwide competition that aims to promote unsigned acts, giving them the chance to bag a professional recording session. For this, I had to secure at least three musical acts, one venue, a sound system with sound engineer, a photographer, somebody to video and of course, get people to come down on the night."Piece of cake" I hear you say.Now despite having a positive outlook on life, I was the first to admit that this wouldn't be a walk in the park. I hadn't so much as held a car boot sale before, never mind a live gig. The students I knew were not part of bands, and the bands and singers I knew, simply weren't students. Rounding up my nearest and dearest, we took to Facebook, Twitter and Sheffield Forum to advertise the event. This would be a challenge, but that's what the role was all about. Getting stuck in!Despite a few setbacks, I was adamant that the event was going to happen. Sheffield has some reyt talent to offer and I wanted to help showcase that. Queens Social Club, a pretty renowned place to hold gigs, kindly agreed to host the event at no cost. I had secured three bands that were original, fun and happy to be involved in a charity event. I had someone to video the event and a photographer who had tonnes of experience with gigs. Things slowly started coming together.On 20th November, the day of the Sheffield event, I was still short of a PA system and the videographer had called in sick. Frantically, I took to LinkedIn in search of anyone who knew how to operate some basic sound equipment.Driving around town in a rusty little Corsa that was jam packed with sandwiches, balloons and any equipment that could be salvaged from the storeroom at Uni - I was on the verge of a breakdown. I desperately didn't want my first ever event to be a shambles and I didn't want to let anybody down.Luckily my constant nagging on social media paid off as friends and old work colleagues had spread the word to anyone they thought could be of help.After a painfully slow start, the game was on! Everyone seemed to be having fun, each of the bands played really well and, along with fellow ambassadors from other Universities, the iSessions event helped us all raise money for the ABF British Soldier's Charity.The night had been a success and hosting an event wasn't that scary after all.So when people ask me what it is I love about Sheffield, my answer is definitely the people. We may not have the most exciting clubbing scene or the fanciest shopping centre or the best bloody accent, but we know how to be helpful. We know how to be nice and have manners.And manners don't cost a thing.For more info on iSessions or to vote for your favourite Sheffield act, visit www.ind.pn/isessions