#oxjamdarlo

Jammin’ Thoughts.... It’s now been a whole week since the Oxjam Darlo takeover. And I’ve pretty much spent the last week in some withdrawn state wondering what the hell to do with myself since it’s been such a large part of my life!  Anyway, we finally announced our fundraising total for last Sunday, a staggering £4224.58 was raised! Just W O W - how amazing in this town? - I love it! 

Again, thank you so much from the whole of the Oxjam team for attending, being one of our acts, allowing us to use your venue, volunteering your time & being a local business who helped us out! We literally couldn’t do it without you. 

Anyway here is my observations of the day...

Rain Doesn’t Dampen Our Spirits  The weather last Sunday was bloody awful. There is no getting away from the fact that it was a dark, cold, wet Sunday night in October. I’m not doing to lie, I did have some initial doubts when setting up the venues earlier in the day (especially when rain was literally dropping off my fringe!) that the whole event was going to be washout. However the whole of Darlo proved me wrong; what an amazing turnout, I was completely overwhelmed with the sheer volume of people who came out to support the event. I definitely think a highlight (and when I eventually relaxed!) was seeing the whole of Avalon jam-packed full of people singing along to Ocean Colour Scene’s ‘The Day We Caught The Train’ performed by the wonderful, Ordinary Affair made me realise just how successful the day was! 

Our Oxfam Shop Rocks  You may find this hard to believe, but some of the Oxjam takeovers across the country don’t work alongside their local Oxfam shop. That’s why at Oxjam Darlo, we are extremely lucky to work alongside such a supportive shop! On the day of the takeover, the shop acts as our base for people to collect tickets, info and for the event volunteers to gather. The festival literally couldn’t take place without this amazing team of people and to top it off they even dressed up as KISS on the day to inject some humour into the event! The Oxfam Darlington team also helped us with our advertising efforts beforehand; by doing a cracking job of promoting the festival, not to mention creating a pretty impressive window display before the main takeover event - you all rock!

We’re A Pretty Talented Bunch I am certainly not talking about myself in this point but the amazing local acts who performed at the takeover. ‘cause my god, there is so much talent in this town, I am only gutted I didn’t manage to get around more stages as I heard some really good feedback! I did manage to pop my head into The Keys which was hosting our ‘hip hop’ stage and was totally taken back by the performances! Hip hop is not my usual bag but I was totally amazed by the sheer creativity on display and found it hard to tear myself away. Again, a massive thank you to all the acts who took time out to perform for us, we loved having you. 

4 Reasons To Get Your V-O-L-U-N-T-E-E-R-I-N-G On At Oxjam Darlo! The 23rd October sees Oxjam Darlo hold their third Takeover. The music festival plans to be bigger and better than ever and showcases homegrown talent across Darlington. All profits raised for the festival are donated directly to Oxfam which helps thousands of people across the World.  The festival couldn’t take place if it wasn’t for kind local people giving up their time. If your thinking about sparing some time for the cause, take a look at the 4 good reasons why you should... 

1) A Freebie Wristband Will Be All Yours That’s right, by giving Oxjam Darlo a helping hand, in return you will receive a free wristband to the enjoy the rest of the festival as a way to say thanks! With 11 venues and over 50 acts taking back, it’s basically a free night - just how good is that? 

2) You Can Feel Pretty Dam Smug Want to feel that warm, fuzzy feeling inside? You can! - All profits raised for the festival are donate directly to Oxfam to help those most need in the UK and overseas. All venues, bands and the organisation team give up their time for the cause. For instance, the charity has most recently helped victims of Hurricane Matthew to have access to clean water. To learn more about Oxfam’s vital work, please visit their website.

3) Your CV With Look Crackin’  Employers will literally snap your hand off when they spot you have done some voluntary work for Oxjam Darlo. Of course, any voluntary work is valuable but when you volunteer at Oxjam Darlo, you can boost your communication, team work and problem solving skills; not to mention helping to raise some vital funds for charity!