White Light Hosts Fundraiser for St Christopher’s Hospice

On Thursday 2^nd November, White Light held the RED Charity Fundraiser at Tunnel 267 in Wimbledon. The one-off event featured live performances from a range of music acts and was held in memory of Richard King, who was a much-loved member of WL’s Moving Lights Team. The evening was a huge success and managed to raise £1000 for St Christopher’s Hospice, Bromley. Along with organising the event, WL provided the entire production support and event crew.

The Fundraiser was organised by WL’s Audio Systems Technician Kieran Edmonds. He comments: “Richard was a dear friend to so many here at WL. He had worked at the company since 2005 and was a part of the WL family. Therefore, when he sadly passed earlier this year, I decided that we should hold some sort of fundraiser in order to honour his memory as well as provide some much needed funding to the hospice who cared for him in his final days”.

The Fundraiser was held in memory of Richard King.

Kieran decided that a charity gig would be the most appropriate event and set about sourcing the acts to play on the evening. He comments: “Coming from a touring audio background, I have managed to make a few contacts and have met  a few bands along the way. I put the word out and was amazed by the response I received. We had people coming from all over the UK, whether it was Scotland, Wales or Kent! They all donated their time for free and it was great seeing everyone come together”.

The acts on the night included Jam Sandwich along with support from The Hijackers, Emilie Cheshire along with WL’s own resident band Fanny and the Electrics. Kieran comments: “Once we had everyone on board, I needed to find a venue that could play host to all of these”.

Kieran contacted Tunnel 267 which is located just up the road from WL in Wimbledon town centre. He comments: “Having previously been to Tunnel 267, I knew this was the perfect space to hold the Fundraiser. That said, it is essentially just a black box space which has no rigging, fixtures or mounting points. Therefore we had to put something together ourselves”.

Working closely with Matt Farquhar, Andy Watson and the WL Apprentices, Kieran put together a technical system that would not only be able to support the band’s performances but also ensure that those in attendance had a memorable evening. He explains: “We supplied everything from the audio to the lighting to the rigging to the power. It was quite an extensive system for a one off event but we wanted to make the evening an unforgettable one and so drew on the necessary equipment to achieve this”.

Kieran and the team arrived at the space at 9am on Wednesday 1^st November in order to get everything in place prior to the opening evening. He explains: “We set everything up on-site as this was our only option. We wanted to ensure that what we created was perfectly suited for the space”. Following the set up, everything was in place by 1pm on Thursday afternoon ready for the sound check and to programme the lighting.

The evening was a huge success and managed to raise £1000 for St Christopher’s Hospice.

Kieran adds: “I was delighted by the support I received from WL, my colleagues and Tunnel 267 in coming together to celebrate Richard’s life and raise some vital funds for a fantastic charity. It was a fitting tribute to a dearly admired and much missed colleague and we’re hopeful that the money raised will go some way in helping the Hospice continue with their brilliant work”.

Photos courtesy of Clare Stringer.