About
Our Story So Far
GingeFest was formed after Alan Wakefield lost his wife, Angie Wakefield, to Cholangiocarcinoma (a form of bile duct cancer) in March 2017, 20 days after diagnosis.
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Alan, daughter Gemma and a few close friends hosted a couple of fundraising events for Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice, who cared for Angie during her last days. After raising £4500, Alan decided he wanted to continue to raise funds in memory of his wife.
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Gemma and her partner Justin suggested creating an event in Angie’s memory. Angie was known for her energetic personality and her ginger hair, so the name ‘GingeFest’ was created in tribute to her. An idea, which was first suggested to friends over a few drinks at the Civil Service Club, started to become a reality.
The initial committee was formed in January 2018. They got to work on planning a Family Funday, a Comedy Evening and an all-day indoor Music Festival. After six months of hard work, the first GingeFest took place on the 7th & 8th July 2018 and was a huge success. £2815 was raised for Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice and £898 for AMMF, the Cholangiocarcinoma Charity.
In 2019 the festival was back again spanning over two days with a Comedy Evening and an all-day Music Festival, which this time was held outdoors. The amount raised on this occasion was £3600 for Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice and £1,015 for Breast Cancer Care.
Alongside this year’s event, the idea of a ‘GingePledge’ was founded. Committee members would lead smaller fundraising events, raffles or sponsorship challenges, such as Jan & Dan’s 6 weeks sober, to raise funds under the GingeFest name.
The year finished with a charity football match held on Boxing Day, where players donated to participate in the game and in addition, a 100 square raffle was organised, resulting in a combined total of £1034.
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Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, GingeFest 2020, like every other festival, had to be cancelled. However, that didn’t stop the committee's fundraising efforts, with many going on to make their GingePledges.
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We had 2 head shaves that raised £900, a Bonus Ball which ran for 24 weeks and raised £3030, a 10k walk in Sue Ryders annual ‘Walk to Remember’ raising a staggering £4295 and ending the year with a football match on Boxing Day, which wasn’t able to go ahead but still raised £405.
In 2021 we continued to raise funds for Sue Ryder and hosted Gingeoween, our first GingeFest event since the covid pandemic began. As a committee, we are looking forward to continuing our fundraising efforts throughout 2022 and look forward to seeing you at GingeFest on the 15th -16th July.
