Oxjam Brum Raises Thousands

This Saturday saw the showpiece event of the Oxjam Brum festival as six venues, 40 bands and hundreds of gig-goers demanded action on climate change until they were blue in the face. We're still in process of counting all the money but early indications show we raised approximately £3,000 for Oxfam. AWESOME!

I looked after the volunteers on the day and was bowled over by their commitment to the cause, most people turned up early and worked far later than they had been asked to. They also persuaded the majority of punters to back the Oxfam "Here and Now" campaign by getting their faces painted blue. GREAT WORK!

I caught some of the acts at Island Bar, including Is I Cinema, Idiosync and Tantrums - all were great and all had big crowds. Northfield-based Tantrums are a band to watch with their hat-tip to Birmingham's musical past. They bought into the day big style, appearing on BBC WM's Janice Long show in the morning and hanging around supporting many of the other bands. If you want to check them out, they're playing the Flapper on 9th November with Youves.

We've had some fantastic feedback since the show but we'd welcome any more - positive or negative. I am hoping the nationwide festival as a whole is as successful as our event was and that Oxfam choose to continue it next year - I'd certainly be up for doing it again!

If you're wondering why we did all of this, please spend a few minutes browsing the Oxfam website which is currently dominated by the Here and Now campaign. Watch some of the video clips and please, sign up to the campaign and donate £1 a week, if you can afford it.