Keith Jones and Trisha Macnair from the Surrey Blues Society present a cheque for £570 to Charli Quay-Barnham, Community Fundraising Manager at Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care.

Building on the success of last year’s inaugural event, Keith Jones and Trisha Macnair of the Surrey Blues & Roots Society organised another great festival at the Royal British Legion Club in Elstead, on 26th May. Although the weather wasn’t as perfect as last year, more people came to hear the music, the rain held off (mostly!) and a fantastic £1,140 was raised. This money has been split between two local charities – Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care, which cares for patients and families who are living with an advanced or terminal illness such as cancer and where Trisha is a Specialty Doctor, and Oakleaf, a mental health charity in Surrey which works as a social enterprise to provide vocational training for those suffering from mental health issues. 

The British Legion Club once again generously offered their beautiful premises for the event and dozens of local musicians took part, performing eight hours of non-stop music across two stages, with songs ranging from soulful blues to raucous blues rock. The Blues Society is now busy planning further musical events at the Club.

“We would like to thank Keith and Trisha, and everyone at the Surrey Blues & Roots Society, for this fantastic amount of money,” said Charli Quay-Barnham, Community Fundraising Manager at Phyllis Tuckwell. “We provide supportive and end of life care for local patients and families who are living with an advanced or terminal illness such as cancer, but as the NHS/Government only covers 20% of our costs, we have to raise over £20,000 a day to do this, and rely heavily on the support and generosity of our local community. £570 could pay for nearly a week’s care from one of our Occupational Therapists, who help patients remain as independent as possible and improve their quality of life. They may suggest pieces of equipment which will help with everyday life, adaptions to the home to help keep patients mobile, or teach coping strategies to help patients and their carers manage fatigue, anxiety or breathlessness.”

To find out about how you could support local Hospice Care, visit www.pth.org.uk/supporting-the-hospice.

Issued for & on behalf of Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care