18/07/2010

Show of Hands supporters raise over £10,000 for charity

Supporters of popular West Country acoustic roots band Show of Hands have raised more than £10,000 for national childhood cancer charity CLIC Sargent and the Paediatric Oncology fund at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital –after frontman Steve Knightley’s young son Jack contracted leukaemia.

Jack Knightley, now eight, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in November 2007 but is happily now well on the road to recovery. At that time his singer songwriter father had to pull out of a nationwide Show of Hands tour with bandmates Phil Beer and Miranda Sykes, but did manage to appear at two gigs – one in Bristol, where Jack was initially being treated and the final show at the Phoenix Theatre in his home town of Exeter.

In late 2008, Longdogs, the web-based Show of Hands fans group, released a special charity CD on its own label featuring the live show at the Phoenix – a fund raising idea by Longdogs stalwart Richard Barnes.
Says Richard: “From the moment the news of Jack’s illness broke not just Longdogs’ members but Show of Hands fans generally responded with a fantastic show of support and goodwill. “

After a ten year presence on the internet Longdogs has become much more than the humble “Show of Hands fans on the ‘net” organisation it set out to be and has worked closely with the band to raise money for other charitable causes such as Children’s Hospice South West and Teenage Cancer Trust.  Says Richard: “Jack’s illness brought the issue of childhood cancer very close to home, and this time we wanted to really make a difference. “

The 16-track CD, which features such Show of Hands classics as Country Life, Roots  Cousin Jack and, appropriately, Longdog, was edited and mastered by Steve and Phil whilst a Plymouth disc manufacturer processed 1,000 CDs free of charge for sale online and at gigs.

By January 2009 enough CDs had been sold for Longdogs to present the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital with a cheque for £5,500 for its paediatric oncology fund – as a special thank you to Bramble ward, where Jack has received ongoing treatment.

The final 50 CDs were sold this month at Show of Hands’s own festival at Abbotsbury Sub Tropical Gardens in Dorset and a further cheque for £5,191 donated to CLIC Sargent. Alison Ramsay, the charity’s Community Fundraising Manager for Devon and Cornwall says: “This is wonderful. The money will go into Jack’s fund for CLIC Sargent and make a real difference to many of the children and families we care for.”

bookmark this story with::