Devonport Park’s bandstand must be one of Plymouth’s real success stories. The Victorian style structure has been in place for six years and its events attract hundreds to the park on a regular basis.
June’s concert organised by the Real Friends Social Group and sponsored by the Park Pavilion Cafe raised over £750 for the charity CLIC Sargent, cancer and leukaemia in children and young people.
“It’s been a great privilege for our group to organise this event in aid of CLIC Sargent”
Choirs, harmony singers, soloists and rock bands all featured in the line up to entertain the crowds. If that wasn’t enough the Woodside Animal Welfare Trust held a dog show and took a stall. For the children there was a bouncy castle from Mr Bounce and also in attendance was the Archery Assault from Plymouth.
Some regular faces at the park performed including the Plymouth Youth Concert Band, Sophie Louise and the One Night Stans.
Samantha Abrahams and the La La Choir sang for a full 40 minutes with songs including standards like You Do Something to Me, plus a few surprises like I Predict a Riot and a number from Queen.
Solo rocker Kracken offered some heavier fare whilst the MBC Harmony sang in a lighter vein. Natasha’s Bollywood Dancers added exotic glamour to the whole affair.
Other performers included Swingletree, Blase Blues, Memory Lane and Saltash.net Community College. Priscilla Carroll of the Real Friends said:
“It’s been a great privilege for our group to organise this event in aid of CLIC Sargent, and we thank everyone who took part and contributed to make this day possible.
“The aim of our group is always to unite our communities through music, and we were thrilled to see so many people, young and old, even the elderly in wheelchairs, rocking to the music. So it’s a very big thank you from me to all our talented performers and a special thanks to our wonderful community for just being there and supporting this amazing charity. We couldn’t have done it without you”.
CLIC Sargent fundraising manager Jordan Anderton said:
“CLIC Sargent is extremely grateful for the magnificent support we have received from the Real Friends Group, they have worked tremendously hard to put this event together and have done a fantastic job. On behalf of everyone at CLIC Sargent, I would like to thank all the organisers, supporters and those who donated for supporting Young Lives vs Cancer.”
Jordan continued
“The money the Real Friends Group have raised could pay for a family to stay in one of CLIC Sargent’s Homes from Home for around three weeks. For some families, their journey would have started with a trip to the closest Specialist Centre, for diagnosis and treatment, with an average stay of 25 days; miles away from home, friends and family.
“CLIC Sargent provides these families with free self-catering accommodation called Homes from Home. These are havens for patients and families during treatment, alleviating the financial cost of paying for alternative accommodation and allowing families to stay together during the toughest times, minimising any further emotional strain. We can only do this thanks to supporters like yourselves.”
The Real Friends group organise around six events every year and have done so since the bandstand was re-instated in the park in 2012 with the help of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Every month in the summer there’s entertainment at the park so keep an eye on listings in the press and posters in shop windows.
