FRIENDS and relatives of the late Swindon DJ Sandy Martin have raised nearly £4,000 for Prospect Hospice by doing what he loved most – enjoying soulful tunes.

Lovers of funk and soul who can remember Sandy’s prolific career across the decades have come together in the months since he died for a series of dance nights.

The cash will go towards the hospice’s home-based service, Prospect@Home.

Fellow DJ and friend Tony McClusky said: “We wanted to find an appropriate way to remember Sandy and raise money for charity. That had to include the music that made him such a well-known figure in Swindon.” Sandy, who had a residency at the former Brunel Rooms, died in March last year aged 53 after being diagnosed with a brain tumour five months previously.

Other DJs who worked alongside the popular Scot, including Glyn Prince, Paul Lewis, Darren Westlake, Raj Lahl and Leo Bond, also came together with Sandy’s friends at the King’s Arms in Old Town in the months after he died for a night that recalled his heyday.

“The place was packed, like a Brunel Rooms reunion,” said Paul Lewis. “We all had such a great night that we decided to repeat it, and it became a series of evenings. “Sarah, Sandy’s widow, chose to support Prospect at Home, the service that the hospice takes to people’s homes, and we were thrilled that the events raised so much towards such a deserving cause.”

Glyn Prince believes that Sandy would have been thrilled to have seen so many people paying tribute to him in a style that brought back the kind of evening for which he will always be remembered. “Sarah very much approved of our plan to remember him this way,” he said. “And I know that she was pleased that we were able to raise the money for Prospect at Home. Our thanks go out to everyone who came along and supported our fundraising for this way.”

Sarah was particularly pleased that, with the money raised for Prospect at Home from donations made by people who attended Sandy’s funeral, the events at the King’s Arms mean that £3921.70 have been raised to date in the DJ’s memory.

Prospect Hospice’s head of fundraising Sheryl Crouch, who knew Sandy well, said: “Sandy was a very good friend and supporter of Prospect Hospice over the years, and we were all greatly saddened to learn that he had died last year. “Our thanks go out to his many friends who raised such a magnificent amount of money towards this valuable and needed service.”