Music festival raises thousands of pounds for cystic fibrosis
2 September 2013
A local music festival raised over £3000 for Sheffield Hospitals Charity to help support local patients receiving treatment for cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening disease which affects the lungs and digestive system.
The festival has become an annual event and is organised by the family and friends of Paul Dungworth, who was born with the inherited genetic condition and sadly passed away in 2008 at the age of 31. This year the festival was organised by Paul’s friends Lisa Mathers, Chris Clarke and Mark Finnegan.
The event was held at The Miners Arms pub in Dronfield Woodhouse where Paul used to regularly enjoy playing football. In tribute to Paul, the day was launched with a football match. This was followed by a raffle, auction and a long line-up of local live bands and a DJ. The day was a great success and was attended by over 250 people, who were kept entertained with face painting, a bouncy castle, a pillow bash competition, sponge throwing and even birds of prey.
Lisa Mathers said: “This is the third event that has been organised to raise funds for Sheffield Hospitals Charity and it brings the total amount to a staggering £8500. I’d like to thank all the people who helped and donated prizes to the raffle and auction. Everyone had such great time and the weather was amazing. We are all feeling inspired to plan an even bigger event for July next year. To make it a little bit different we are introducing a seaside theme. I’m already looking forward to it!”
The money raised from the festival will be used to fund improvements that will benefit over 150 cystic fibrosis patients from across South Yorkshire who are currently being cared for by the specialist staff at the Northern General Hospital. People with the condition are often required to stay in hospital for prolonged periods to help them recover if their immune system becomes weakened and they feel unwell.
Cystic fibrosis is one of the UK’s most common life-threatening inherited diseases and although only 9000 people have cystic fibrois, two million people in the UK carry the faulty gene that causes it, which is around 1 in 25 of the population. There is currently no cure for the condition.
Photo: Organisers of the Paul Dungworth Music Festival visit the Cystic Fibrosis Unit to present a fundraising cheque to nursing staff. From left to right Babita Devi, Chris Clarke, Lisa Mathers, Mollie Finnegan, Mark Finnegan, Trish Ottewell and Abi Johnson.
