How would you like to win a guitar signed by many of the big names at the Wickham Festival – and help a good cause into the bargain?
Donated by the Guitar Store in Southampton, it has been autographed by the likes of Toyah, Nick Lowe, Deacon Blue and plenty more – and raffle tickets cost just £2.
The aim is to raise money for the music therapy charity George’s Rockstars set up in memory of George O’Shaughnessy who died from leukaemia in 2019 aged just six.
His mother Amy said: “He fought the disease for five years and spent a lot of time in hospital having treatment. It was tough but music therapy really helped him to process and show his emotions.
“When we lost him, we decided we wanted to do something in his memory to help other children in hospital so we set up the charity George’s Rockstars.
“The pandemic slowed it down but now it is really taking off. We have a therapist Cathy Birch who goes into QA Hospital in Portsmouth and is about to start in Southampton. We are hoping to extend the scheme to Winchester and Basingstoke by the end of the year.
“Some children spend a long time in hospital and things like this can really improve their stays. A lot of what they go through is stressful and scary and this can help them process it without having to vocalise their emotions; we know from experience just how brilliant it is.
“But to include more hospitals we obviously need funding which is why we are so grateful to the Guitar Store for donating this beautiful instrument and to all the team at Wickham Festival who worked so hard to get so many signatures when they had so much else to do.”
Guitar Store owner Jamie Goatley added: “We were delighted to support such a good cause and I really hope people get behind it and we can raise a lot of money for a wonderful charity which can make such a difference.
“This really is a one-off prize which will be a unique souvenir for the lucky winner. Tickets cost just £2 each for the chance to win a fantastic piece of music memorabilia.”
The full list of artists to sign is:
NICK LOWE
EDDI READER
STEVE KNIGHTLY
FAIRPORT CONVENTION
THE SOUTH
DEACON BLUE
TOYAH WILCOX
TANKUS THE HENGE
JOHN OTWAY
STANLEY JORDAN
JACKIE OATES
JOHN SPIERS
SETH LAKEMAN
ELIZA CARTHY
DENNIS GREAVES (NINE BELOW ZERO)
ROD CLEMENTS (LINDISFARNE)
JOHNNY KALSI (DHOL FOUNDATION)
Tickets for the raffle can be bought here
