Southampton Ukulele Jam played a continuous 30-hour ‘UKe-athon’ at the weekend, surpassing their original 24-hour target and several fundraising goals, to bring in over £10k for four local charities.
Article continues after this message...
It was staged from arts and heritage venue God’s House Tower near the waterfront before small live audiences and via an elaborate online stream which reached supporters around the world.
Viewers were able to live chat and send in messages of encouragement, while watching ticker-tape updates on targets attained and time played.
Initial hopes were reportedly to raise £4,000, but the target was achieved and stretched several times to raise £10,000 among the four charities: The Society of St James, Yellow Door, No Limits, and Mountbatten Hampshire – organisations working in areas such as homelessness, domestic abuse, young people’s support and end-of-life care.
The event was live-streamed. Image: YouTube
Speaking in a rather hoarse voice at the conclusion on Sunday (Aug 10), co-founder Colin McUke thanked everyone involved in the epic event, which had started at 10am on the Saturday.
Playing out with a final rendition of the Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go” a jubilant Jam finally decided to go from God’s House Tower when they’d performed for 30 hours, one minute and 25 seconds.
“I hope we passed the audition. Thank you very much,” concluded McUke.
• The donate page is still open, with the total currently standing at £10,777.
Listen to our interview with Colin McUke speaking in the run-up to the event
God's House Tower