An annual Suffolk music festival held in memory of a Sudbury musician has donated £20,000 to charity following this year’s sold-out event.
The popular LeeStock music festival, which took place at the end of May at Melford Hall, Long Melford, donated the money to the Willow Foundation – a national charity which gives special days out to seriously ill young adults.
The money from this year’s event now brings the total amount raised for the Willow Foundation since the festival began in 2006 to nearly £150,000.
The festival is held in honour of Lee Dunford, who died following a battle with cancer aged 21 in 2006, and this year marked the 11th year of the event.
The Willow Foundation took Lee and his band mates to a recording studio for a special day prior to his death.
LeeStock has grown from humble beginnings at Glemsford Social Club to a two-day music festival, with 3,000 people attending on both days.
Edd Keogh, one of the organising team behind the event, said: “The festival gets bigger and bigger each year and we’re proud to say the money raised for the Willow Foundation keeps going up too.
“We’re tremendously grateful for all the support this year and already looking forward to delivering an even bigger and better LeeStock in 2019.”
LeeStock – which was originally known as LeeFest – has sold-out well in advance for the last three years and tickets for the 2019 festival went on sale yesterday.
The festival is a part of a number of events which aim to raise money and the profile of the Willow Foundation, including a pub crawl, a football match, and a Twenty20 cricket match.
In 2011, the festival was based at the White Horse pub in North Street, Sudbury, and welcomed 90s indie band Dodgy and ex-Bluetones singer Mark Morriss as headline acts.
The event moved again in 2012 to AFC Sudbury’s stadium before settling on a more permanent home at Melford Hall from 2013.
During the last five years, the festival has welcomed acts as diverse as Feeder, Reef, Republica, Wheatus, Toploader, Space, Scouting For Girls, The Hoosiers, Lucy Spraggon, Lightning Seeds, Terrorvison, Newton Faulkner and The Feeling.
For more information about the festival, people can visit www.leestock.org
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