With support from the University of Nottingham, the award-winning Oxjam Beeston Music Festival has broken its own fundraising record in 2017 — becoming the largest Oxjam festival by raising a staggering £22,000 for the international charity.

With a mantra of “local music global impact”, Oxjam Beeston was a community event driven by the generosity, goodwill and talent of local residents, musicians, venues, shops, businesses, schools, churches and other community organisations.

The main ‘Takeover’ event on Saturday 14 October 2017 attracted large crowds to Beeston for 12 hours of live music throughout the town. More than 100 live acts across 20 stages covered a wide range of genres — from rock, pop, indie and DJ sets, to choral, folk and jazz.

The day started with a midday flash mob by Nottinghamshire Rock Choir in Beeston Square and ended with a silent disco at Barton’s Depot at midnight. As well as the Takeover, other festival events included ‘Unplugged’, ‘Rock Night’, ‘Operatic Arias’, ‘Classical Oxjam’ and ‘The Oxjam Ceilidh’.

This year there were two UoN-sponsored stages at the Takeover, as well as a large contingent of student volunteers and a specially-developed Festival App from the School of Computer Science’s Mixed Reality Lab.

Tim Hunter, Oxfam GB Fundraising Director, commented: “Oxjam Beeston has been one of our flagship, volunteer-led Oxjam music festivals for some years now, and this year’s achievement of raising over £22,000 for Oxfam (their record total to date) is nothing short of inspiring. The team know their local music scene inside out, and their fundraising efforts have been incredible. The money raised from Oxjam Beeston will make a huge difference to those living in extreme poverty, and proves that local music really can have a global impact.”

Beeston consistently ranks highly in its fundraising achievements and has never been outside of the top three of around 40 Oxjam Festivals that take place across the UK. The festival won Oxfam’s Community Award in 2013, the Oxjam Partnership Award in 2014, and the Most Money Raised Award (£17,050) in 2015.

Festival Director, Colin Tucker, said: “Oxjam Beeston has raised over £80,000 for Oxfam since the event began in 2011. It’s a brilliant achievement that reflects the commitment of local volunteers and wider community to this worthy cause.”