Rock up to Stourbridge charity night and support the homeless

At Katie Fitzgerald's, Enville Street, on Sunday, political musician group We Shall Overcome (WSO) will hold the latest instalment of their regular event, but the twist being they will raise cash for the volunteers at Leslie's Care Packages (LCP) - a group combatting homelessness in the region.

LCP is run by tireless campaigner Vi Wood, who set the group up in memory of her late husband Leslie in order to carry on the work he himself tried to do when he was alive.

Their mission statement is to: "Prevent and relieve poverty of people who are homeless or at risk of being made homeless due to their disadvantage, social and digital exclusion or other vulnerability, through the provision of goods, support and access to assistance that can help them to develop longer-term solutions to the challenges they face."

She met one of the founders of WSO, Frank Prazer, at a fundraiser in 2016 and after being impressed by her dedication he has been helping her raise funds since.

"It's a community group and gets no funding at all," Frank, known as Frankie, said. "It relies just on donations. I was inspired because Vi was on her own and helping those less fortunate than herself. She wanted to give back to the community and I did too."

Frankie had started WSO with his son Ryan in Luton in 2015. After moving to Dudley in 2016, the 47-year-old wanted to carry the movement on. It is held normally every October in line with national WSO events organised by 'musicians angry at austerity cuts'. Last year, 250 events were held simultaneously around the country.

"We approached Katie Fitzgerald's as they do lots of events to help local causes, and my son worked there too," he added. "Music is a passion and brings people together and breaks down barriers from all diversities."

And Katie Fitzgerald's has been a key player too. The venue have been supporting them annually since, and agreed to hold this special edition of the show - We Shall Overcome Dudley, or #wsodudley2018 - to support LCP. Frank added: "I'd like to thank the KF team - Eddy Morton, Trina Keane and the rest of the management."

In a Facebook post to customers, pub owner Eddy put out a plea for attendees to come en-masse and raise money for this great cause.

"Come along this Sunday here at Katie Fitzgerald's and support a great cause with some great music, beer and good company and even the sun will be shining," he said.

And there has been a mixture of local talent signed up to play - some approached by Frankie himself, while others came to him to volunteer their time and talents.

"I chose some of the acts myself, also some approached me to play as they believe in what Vi is doing with helping the homeless and less fortunate," he added.

Local acts on the bill include some top talents. The stage timings have also been revealed, with Sid River stepping up first at 4.20pm after a welcoming from Frankie. Next up is Linda Marita Smith at 5pm, John Stranks at 5.40pm and Darren 'Shaggy' Hyde takes to the stage at 6.20pm.

Black Country Radio presenter Ian Marrey will perform at 7pm, before Matthew Lee Partridge takes over at 7.40pm and The Daisies are up at 8.20pm.

Blue Byrd is on at 9pm, with headliners Mistrusted kicking off at 9.45pm.

The headline act were happy to jump on board and support the cause, telling us in a statement: "We’ve played Frankie’s events before and they’re always well-run and organised. We wanted to play We Shall Overcome for Leslie's Care Packages as it is a worthy cause and we are glad to be involved with it.

"We are looking forward to playing."

Entry to the event is free, although donations will be collected in buckets throughout and gig goers are asked to supply non-perishable foods or clothes or blankets which LCP can distribute to those in need if they can. And further to that, revellers are asked to wear something red to show solidarity and support for LCP - something Vi herself requested for the evening.

"There are no tickets for the event as it is free entry but we just request people wear red to show their support for LCP and also bring along some non-perishable foods or clothing or blankets," Frankie added.

"Vi asked us to have some sort of gimmick. Something to fit in with the message. So we are asking everybody to wear red for LCP.

"We hope to raise £250 from this event. This is normally an annual event but we decided to do it as Vi is a good friend and a hard working person and we wanted to do it for a great cause. We also intend it to be an alternative to the St George's Day celebrations for anybody who is out and about and fancies something a little bit different to the norm."

The evening kicks off at 4pm, with revellers asked to just turn up when they can to show support.

Speaking about the night, LCP founder Vi Wood said: "People always support us and it's all because of them that I can do what I do.

"I'm really grateful to them because they are giving their own time and they are supporting my cause.

"Obviously a lot of people see my good work for the community and they are happy to support us in any way they can."

l To contact Katie Fitzgerald's for further information ahead of the show, call 01384 374410 and ask to speak to Eddy or Trina. For more on LCP visit http://www.lesliescarepackages.org/ and for more on WSO, see https://weshallovercomeweekend.com/