Cherry Lodge Cancer Care again wholeheartedly thanks Summer Soulstice and its supporters for their fantastic support.
Barnet’s Summer Soulstice festival returned live on Saturday 25th June 2022 after two years online due to the coronavirus. This year’s sell-out crowd of 5,000 music lovers flocked to Old Elizabethans’ Memorial Fields to enjoy 12 hours of live, soulful, family fun. The event was a success on all counts, raising a record £50,000 to help fund Cherry Lodge’s many services.
As is customary, the Soulstice crew organised a Big Payback Event at the Black Horse pub on August Bank Holiday Sunday (28th August). Supporters of Summer Soulstice and Cherry Lodge Cancer Care joined Soulstice crew members and Cherry Lodge volunteers (all smartly clad in blue CL t-shirts) for an afternoon and evening of joyful music and companionship.
The focal point of the gathering, as always, was the big cheque handover, which took place just after 6pm. Among the event’s regular attendees was local MP Theresa Villiers, whom we thank for her ongoing support. Short speeches during the handover were given by Jamie Farquharson for Summer Soulstice, and by Margaret Clark for Cherry Lodge. Margaret’s gratitude to the Summer Soulstice crew was made very clear when she said that people often told her that they couldn’t have managed without the support of Cherry Lodge – but Cherry Lodge in turn couldn’t manage without the support of Summer Soulstice. The formal proceedings ended with the raffle draw, by Tina Papasavva, CL’s fundraising event coordinator.
Summer Soulstice has been supporting Cherry Lodge Cancer Care since 2007, when a group of Old Elizabethans got together to hold their first Soul Music festival in Barnet to raise money in memory of their school mate Andy Weekes, who died of cancer in the USA in 2006. Summer Soulstice is Cherry Lodge’s largest third-party supporter by far – and this year’s record donation of £50,000 takes the total they have raised for us to a phenomenal £480,000.
Putting on a very enjoyable and financially successful festival year after year requires a huge amount of time and effort. Thank you very much indeed to everyone involved, whether directly for Summer Soulstice or as part of the Cherry Lodge fundraising team. Special thanks are extended this year to Summer Soulstice stalwart Jamie Topham, who is now standing back after giving his time so very generously for 15 years, ever since the initial planning meeting for the very first festival!
Please see the Summer Soulstice website for more information about its history, mission and events – as well as numerous great photos and videos.
Click on the small images below to see larger, complete photographs.
