Tag: my Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad

Swindon Festival prevails for fourth consecutive year having raised over £40,000 for Prospect Hospice

The team behind popular all-day music extravaganza, My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival, can now reveal that nearly £11,500 was raised for Prospect Hospice following last Summer’s event, bringing the total raised since the festival’s inception to well over £40,000…..

MDBTYD 2024, organised in association with the South Swindon Parish Council, was held at Old Town Bowl on Saturday 20th July 2024 with around 1,000 people joining in the festivities. Devizine sent our Ian along, and this was what he said about it.

This was the fourth year of the increasingly popular local festival, which was organised to raise much needed funds for Prospect Hospice in tribute to Dave Young, the former landlord of The Victoria and 12 Bar, who died in early June 2021 at the Hospice after a hard-fought battle against cancer.

Prospect Hospice, based in Wroughton, provides invaluable care for people across the region and has to raise in excess of 70% of its costs through fundraising through the local community. In 2023 alone Prospect Hospice provided free care for over 2,000 patients. With costs continuing to rise and more people than ever needing their care, fundraising is critical to continue this vital service – they have sadly lost 50% of their capacity for inpatient care due to underfunding within the last two years.

“Prospect Hospice is an organisation that does incredible work, delivering palliative and end of life care to those who need it; work that is only going to become more important in the future. Everything that the hospice does is driven by the people in our community, which I find to be truly inspirational.” – Jeremy Lune, CEO.

The story of local music promoter Dave Young and the support he and his family received from the hospice is reflected in this event through its energy, varied line up of predominantly local bands and array of family friendly entertainment throughout the day, all supported by local sponsors and an army of volunteers. The event is a true community collaboration, much like the hospice itself.

Anna Sprawson, Dave’s widow & event co-organiser has said “Without the support of Prospect Hospice, what was a terrible time for Dave and us, his family was made somewhat more bearable – I could call on Dave’s Prospect nurse, Tina at any time for support & guidance and she remains a close family friend to this day. Hospices are often simply thought of as places where someone goes to die, however it is so much more than that – it allows the family to spend the remaining moments with their loved ones, allowing me to be Dave’s wife again and not only his carer.”

My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival 2024, which had the support of Future Planning as its headline sponsor for the third year running, took place over two stages with 16 acts performing on the Old Town Bandstand acoustic stage as well as the main stage at the Old Town Bowl. Sanjay from Future Planning said “Everyone we work with and speak to knows about the Prospect Hospice and the incredible work they undertake, touching so many lives, it’s a privilege to be able to help such a worthy cause. Each time we interact with someone from Prospect, they are always friendly and helpful. We are always happy to support in any way possible and hope the Prospect Hospice can continue doing their amazing work for many years to come.”.

Other sponsors of MDBTYD Festival 2024 included Holmes Music, The Tuppenny, Lewis Farrant Floor Layer, Funky Corner Radio. Some of the best acts of the local music scene came together to support the event – SN Dubstation, Gaz Brookfield and The Company of Thieves, The Chaos Brothers (one of Dave’s bands) and many more.

Part of the fee paid to South Swindon Parish Council to use the venue has been put aside to help raise money for the continued upkeep of the Old Town Bowl, an eye-catching 1930’s art deco amphitheatre.

After a well-earned break, the organisers of the festival are now planning for MDBTYD 2025, with the date set for Saturday 26th July 2025. For further updates, follow My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival on social media. Facebook. Insta. 

Discounted early bird tickets for this year’s event are already on sale via their website – HERE – get them while they’re still hot!

What else is happening?!

More than £9000 donated to Prospect Hospice by My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival 2023

This week the organiser proudly presented a cheque for a whopping £9537.75 to Prospect Hospice staff. The third year of My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival, organised in association with South Swindon Parish Council, was held at The Old Town Bowl on Saturday 22 July with around 800 people braving the rain throughout the day…..

Some of the best acts of the local music scene came together to support the event, including Kova Me Badd, Imperial Leisure and The Real Cheesemakers, to raise much needed funds for Prospect Hospice in tribute to Dave Young, the former landlord of The Victoria and 12 Bar who died in early June 2021 at the Hospice. The festival also collaborated with Swindon Paint Fest who hosted an area of creativity which included live painting from six fantastic local artists, with the resulting artworks to be auctioned off in the near future.

Festival co-organiser Gemma Denley-Doswell said “We are absolutely delighted with the amount raised which, despite the awful weather on the day, has surpassed last year’s total. We couldn’t have done this without the enthusiasm and support of South Swindon Parish Council, our fantastic sponsors, supporters and volunteers, the performers and traders, and, of course, everyone who braved the rain to enjoy the day. We love working with the team at Prospect Hospice and we’re aiming to raise an even bigger total for them next year!”

L-R, Jane Green (Prospect Matron), Anna Sprawson (Organiser), Ana Marques and Sanjay Badhan (Future Planning), Debbie Robson (Prospect@Home Lead), Gemma and Aaron Denley-Doswell (Organisers)

Prospect Hospice, based in Wroughton, provides palliative and end of life care for people across the region and has to raise the majority of its costs through fundraising. My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival has raised over £32000 for Prospect Hospice in its first three years.

Sheryl Crouch Head of Income at the hospice said “On behalf of everyone at Prospect Hospice and all the patients and families that we care for, I would like to thank the brilliant My Dads Bigger Than Your Dad team for their wonderful ongoing support. Year three for this event has seen it grow and gain more and more local support. We were privileged to have cared for Dave Young, who the event is in memory of, and remain privileged to be the beneficiaries of this fantastic event, our thanks go to everyone involved in organising it. As a charity that needs to source over 76% of our running costs, donations such as this one make a significant difference in enabling us to continue supporting our patients and their families and provide care tailored to their needs free of charge.”

The organisers were joined at the cheque presentation by Sanjay Badhan and Ana Marques from Old Town’s Future Planning, who were headline sponsors of the festival for the second year running. Sanjay said “Prospect Hospice provides truly outstanding services and it’s a privilege to help raise money for such a worthy cause.”

Sponsors of MDBTYD Festival 2023 also included Anytime Fitness, Imagine Cruising, Leightons Opticians, and Lewis Farrant Floor Layer. Part of the fee paid to South Swindon Parish Council to use the venue has been put aside to help raise money for the upkeep of the Old Town Bowl. The organisers of the festival are now planning for MDBTYD 2024, with the date set for Saturday 20th July 2024 and several music acts already confirmed to perform. For further updates follow My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival on social media.

Early Bird tickets for next year’s event are on sale via the website mydadsbiggerthanyourdad.co.uk

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My Dad’s Wackier Than Your Dad – a night of nostalgia and karaoke at The Castle Inn, Old Town

The team behind My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival are hosting a night of karaoke at The Castle Inn, Old Town on Saturday 4th March as part of their efforts to raise funds for Prospect Hospice.

My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival, organised in association with South Swindon Parish Council, is held in tribute to Dave Young, the former landlord of The Victoria and 12 Bar who died in early June 2021 at Prospect Hospice after a hard-fought battle against cancer.  

During his tenure at The Victoria, Dave’s Wacky Wednesday fast became one of the most popular nights of the week amongst Swindon revellers, with Dave regularly coming up with themes such as ‘Christmas in July’ and ‘Barnyard Fancy Dress’, much to chagrin of his staff who had to tidy up the next day.

Festival co-organiser and ex-employee of Dave and his wife Anna, Gemma Denley-Doswell said “Wacky Wednesdays came up in a lot of people’s fondest memories of Dave when he passed away and so we knew we had to recreate it at some point for the people who used to attend back then. We’re all sadly much older now and not quite brave enough to attempt it midweek anymore so picked a Saturday and luckily Audrey and the team at The Castle volunteered to host us!”*

My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival’s Raffle is also being launched at the event, after last year’s raffle of a guitar clock made and donated by Holmes Music raised nearly £1000 for Prospect Hospice.

This year there are several prizes to be bagged including another guitar clock from Holmes Music plus a haul of other fantastic gifts kindly donated by local businesses.  

One lucky winner will net a year’s free membership to Anytime Fitness in Hooper’s Place, Old Town, with the gym generously providing another two three-month memberships to add to the prize list.

Also up for grabs is a Photoshoot Experience Day from Marlborough based Imagine Photography and a spa voucher from the newly-refurbished Sorella Spa located in the Swindon Marriott Hotel.

Other prizes are yet to be announced, with the final draw being held in July after the festival. Tickets are £1 each and will also be available at Holmes Music, The Tuppenny and The Castle after the 4th March.

My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival 2023 is being held on Saturday 22nd July in The Town Gardens, Old Town. Already announced on the line up is Imperial Leisure, True Strays and The Real Cheesemakers. Follow the festival’s social media pages for regular updates.

Get your My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival 2023 tickets now by visiting the website mydadsbiggerthanyourdad.co.uk  

Prospect Hospice, based in Wroughton, provides palliative and end of life care for people across the region and has to raise the majority of its costs through fundraising. My Dad’s Bigger Than Your Dad Festival has raised over £24,000 for Prospect Hospice in its first two years.

*Gemma added “For those who can still handle staying up late on a school night, The Victoria is still proudly flying the flag for Wacky Wednesday to this day!”