DJ Magiggs set to raise money for mental health charity

22 April 2020

A CASTLEWELLAN DJ is hosting 24 hours of music this weekend to raise money for a local mental health charity and raise people’s spirits during the coronavirus lockdown.

DJ Magiggs – otherwise known as Paul McArdle – will be playing a selection of music non-stop live on Facebook from Quinn’s Bar in Newcastle on Saturday and Sunday.

From 11am – 11pm, the father of two will be blasting out tunes and doing what he loves best – making people happy through music.

Paul said that he was inspired to host this marathon DJ session from another man’s kind gesture.

“I saw a guy was running a 5k in his home and I thought that I could never do that,” he said.

“However, then I thought what is it I’m good at and enjoy? I decided to host the two 12-hour sets with Quinn’s of Newcastle being my big backer as I normally am resident there. I have the use of their premises as no-one is there and streaming live from there on my page and their page on Facebook.

“I’m planning set times throughout the day for hours of easy listening, Sixties, Seventies, so on with club classics later on.”

The 40 year-old has already raised more than £800 in 36 hours for the Newcastle charity MYMY (Mind Your Mate and Yourself) and is being supported by other local DJs and businesses.

Paul said: “I must mention the support I have from DJ Simon Walsh from Ballynahinch, DJ Ruairi King who cycled to Rostrevor to Castlewellan today to raise awareness of the event, and DJ Andrew Job for his support. Businesses such as Railway Street Café and Just for Him hairdressers in Newcastle and CrossFit Infected in Castlewellan are also supporting me. Clubs that I’ve worked for such as Kilcoo GAC, St John’s GAC and Castlewellan soccer club have also helped to promote the event.”

MYMY is important to Paul as he personally knows what it is to be helped and supported by others when he was at his lowest ebb.

After achieving 16 months off drugs, Paul admits he was feeling suicidal when he finally reached out for help. He started using drugs like Ecstasy from the age of 18 which over 20 years, despite long periods of absence, led to his regular use of cocaine.

“It all started out fun and games and then it took over my life. I was feeling suicidal and my family life was destroyed over it,” he said.

“Things reached a head when my wife and family left me on New Year’s Day on 2019. The next day I was hospitalised as I was suicidal. I saw no other way out; everything was so dark. I felt that if I could just disappear then everyone could get on with their lives… that was what my head was telling me as I could see no hope. But once I got help, my life just turned around.”

While in hospital, Paul reached out to a friend in MYMY and asked for help. He added: “Since then, I’ve never looked back. Every day is a new day. I admit it’s a battle every day but that battle has been minimised by me keeping myself active, getting involved and speaking out in order to help others.

“I use the fact that I was a DJ and people knew me to my advantage in getting the message out and I will continue to do that. Before I was so negative, I would sit alone in isolation and blocked out any pain with drugs.”

Paul also works for Collins Aerospace in Kilkeel and has praised the help and support he received from the company.

“They were absolutely fantastic to me when I opened up and told them about everything,” he said.

I’m so thankful to have come through what I did. I can now deal with life on its terms. I know to keep active as if I start to lie around on the sofa, that’s when I begin to feel a bit like I used to.

Paul has also been entertaining his neighbours where he lives in Castlehill in Castlewellan. Along with the clap for the NHS, carers and key workers every Thursday night from 8pm, Paul, supported by wife Meabh, daughters Ella (5) and Cara (3), started to play music and requests from neighbours for a short time where children and residents would come out of their homes to dance along.

Like many others who have lost work during the lockdown, Paul has started to DJ some sets at home live on Facebook to mark the nights where he would have been performing at couples weddings to help them mark the day.

To view the live DJ marathon set, watch from Paul’s and Quinn’s Facebook pages and to donate visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/paul-mcardle

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