I met Ali whilst helping his sister organise the 2009 Oxjam Festival in Bath. So it seemed apt that we should commemorate Oxjam in our wedding celebrations – and what better way than by hosting an Oxjam fundraiser! We thought the best way to get a lot of people there was by having the fundraiser as our Stag / Hen do. Apparently, having a joint do is becoming quite common – to the extent that it’s not got a name. A Sten Do!
We approached the local Oxjam team who thought it was a great idea to organise an event, and so we set about finding a venue; bands & a DJ. Not as easy as it might sound! It was a little bit hair-raising with only 1 act confirmed with a week to go… but as with most charity events, it all came together at the last minute 🙂
The event kicked off with the fabulous Rachel Bedford – watch out for her in the future…. She was swiftly followed by Chloe Heywood. I met Chloe via craft events and the train (long story!), and she kindly offered to sing for the event. What a voice! Definitely a hidden jazz talent of Bath – you heard it here first. The final acoustic act were 2 members of Frankie Thunder and the Butterfly Wings who were recently played by Dermott O’Leary on Radio 2. I’m sure we’ll be hearing from them again. And we rounded it all off with DJ Octavius Jivefish – a guy who loves his music so much you just HAVE to join him dancing! Everyone had a go on the dance floor, possibly because I went round the room pulling them on to it 😉
We didn’t forget the event was for Oxfam – there was a Love Syria campaign stall (I urge you – sign the petition if you haven’t already) as well as a fundraising table. My brother lost quite a bit of money to Oxjam trying to win lollipops 🙂 All in all, we had the best Sten do I could have asked for and raised over £250 for a great cause. A night to remember for sure.
Craftyactivist's Blog 