A MUSIC festival held at the Blunsdon Arms raised more than £1,600 for charity.

The Get Rocked festival at the pub featured performances from popular local acts Get Carter, The Corsairs, Bleep Machines, Primates, Midlife Crisis and Blind Lemon.

All the bands volunteered to take part in the festival to raise money for a good cause.

Proceeds from tickets, wristbands and T-shirt sales raised £1,130 for the Swindon SOBS group, which, in September, will mark four years of supporting people who have been bereaved by suicide.

Nationwide Building Society then match-funded £500 to bump up the total even more.

The day-long festival, which organisers estimate was attended by more than 1,500 people, was also a chance for local five-piece rock cover band Get Carter, who opened and closed the set, to mark their 10-year anniversary.

Bassist Tony Smith explained why SOBS' work hit particularly close to home.

He said: "There are a couple of people that we've known over the years who are no longer with us and that's why we decided to raise money for SOBS when we celebrated our anniversary.

"Suicide is a big problem in Swindon and nationally.

"Young men and men in our age group seem to be particularly affected by it and it's become quite prominent in the news, with Chester Bennington from Linkin Park and Chris Cornell both taking their own lives."

A recent episode of police documentary 999: What's Your Emergency? highlighted the sobering scale of the issue when it revealed that Wiltshire Police receives 20 999 calls every week from men who feel like they've reached the end of the road.

Tony said: "We were quite pleased with what we raised and the charity were most appreciative.

"It was great to present money to them that's going to make a difference to people in the area."

Swindon SOBS group leader Jackie Parry was overwhelmed by the kindness of the bands and festival-goers who attended Get Rocked.

She said: "It's an absolutely amazing amount and it was an incredible day, the Blunsdon Arms staff did a great job.

"Everyone who attended and donated was so generous, we are blessed and honoured.

"This has taken a huge pressure of us having to apply for funding and we're very thankful.

"We were really touched when they called to let us know they were raising money for us, it's humbling."

Swindon SOBS group meets on the first and third Thursdays of every month.

For more information about Survivors Of Bereavement by Suicide, visit uksobs.org

  • Anyone can contact Samaritans and can call for free any time from any phone on 116 123 (this number is free to call and will not appear on the phone bill), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit Swindon & District Samaritans at 6 Curtis Street.