Lawyer turned DJ helps raise almost £700 for charity
A lawyer in the Black Country has raised almost £700 for a children's charity by turning his home into a dancefloor.
James Raybone, from New Invention in Willenhall, works at his law firm Alvechurch Legal Services – but turns into DJ Matt James at the weekend.
The lawyer would take to the decks at Booton's Bar and Grill in Brierley Hill as the resident DJ, which he has been unable to do due to coronavirus.
But now he has decided to continue with his efforts to raise funds for children's charity Caudwell Children.
The 38-year-old, who took up DJ-ing at Bangor University in 2001, said: "When I came back to Wolverhampton to study law, in 2004, I began doing nights at the university’s student’s union.
“Although I gave it up in 2012, it’s something that I love to do and I took it up again in 2018, when I got the gig at Booton’s.
“I really miss not being behind the decks on Saturday evenings so I thought I’d create a Facebook live show from my living room, to keep my hand in and entertain a few friends."
The former Pool Hayes Community School student put together a two-hour set of popular trance anthems for the performance.
And within weeks the lawyer had asked viewers to nominate a charity he could raise money for – with an old friend coming forward to nominate one.
"I couldn’t believe it when and old school friend of mine, Bekki Rix, direct messaged me," he said.
"Her son Bowie, has Bohring-opitz syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that has left him unable to walk or communicate.
"She said that the family had been helped by Caudwell Children, a national charity that provides practical and emotional support to disabled children and their families, and she wanted to nominate them, which I was more than happy to agree with.”
The live set attracted 5,000 views, prompting 230 comments and 126 shares from his followers.
Bekki said: “I met James in Sixth Form when Sneyd Community School and Poole Hayes were merged.
"I’ve not spoken to him in years but we follow each other on Facebook, and I just happened to pick up a live stream of him doing his DJ set a few weeks ago.
"When he suggested doing a set for charity I immediately got in touch as Caudwell Children has given us so much support over the years, including a once-in-a-lifetime holiday to Disneyworld, in Florida.
"Given that we’ve only had the odd Facebook interaction I was delighted when he agreed to support the charity."
Chris Booton, owner of Booton's Bar and Grill, pledged to double the amount raised if James hit his £200 fundraising target.
All money raised will go to Caudwell Children’s Emergency Appeal with people asked to donate at www.caudwellchildren.com
People can follow James Raybone, aka DJ Matt James, by visiting https://www.facebook.com/jamesraybone
