Annual music festival raises record breaking £8,040 for Morecambe and Lancaster schools

Shelly's Bane performing at School Aid at the Exchange on Sunday night

An annual music festival in aid of local schools has shattered its previous best total by raising more than £8,000.

The final total raised at School Aid, which took place in Morecambe and Lancaster over three days, was announced as £8,040.

The previous best total was £6000 at last year's event.

Musicians and DJs gave up their time to perform at the three-day event, held from February 9 to 11 at The Exchange in Morecambe and The Bobbin in Lancaster.

School Aid founder Jay Blackburn (pictured below speaking at the festival on Sunday) said he was "absolutely blown away" by the final figure.

LISTEN to Jay Blackburn speaking to Beyond Radio shortly after the final total was confirmed.

"I was praying we would get somewhere near 6,000 but I didn't think we'd reach it, to be honest. To hit that, is absolutely incredible.

"I doff my cap to the community for coming out in force."

The money will be split between six local schools; West End Primary, Morecambe Bay Primary, Sandylands, St Patrick's at Heysham, St Luke's at Skerton and Castle View on the Ridge in Lancaster.

When asked if School Aid would return in 2025, Jay said: "Why not? Let's aim for £10,000 next year!"

Read more: INTERVIEW: Musician praises "incredible effort from community" as School Aid closes in on £20,000 total - Beyond Radio

The Morecambe musician founded the annual School Aid event in 2018 after watching a shocking TV news report about the poverty of children in a local primary school.

Since then the festival has gone from strength to strength, with artists performing to raise money to help local schoolchildren in these tough economic times.

This year's event began with a night of soul music at The Exchange on Friday, then two full days of live performances, firstly at The Bobbin on Saturday and then at The Exchange on Sunday.

School Aid was supported by Beyond Radio, with Phill Hayward and Silent Mark hosting on Saturday, and Greg Lambert the host on Sunday.

Auctions and raffles raised a huge amount of the final total, with local people and businesses donating more prizes than ever before.

Here is Jay with the prizes on offer at The Exchange on Sunday.

Here are more photos from Sunday's event at The Exchange. You can also see more images and videos of performances at Beyond Radio's Facebook and Instagram pages.

 

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