Festival to raise money in memory of Stephen Sutton

It comes as it was announced that a two-day vigil at Lichfield Cathedral is set to be held in his memory next week (see Cathedral to hold two day vigil for Stephen Sutton).

Last year inspirational Stephen, from Burntwood, ticked off number 44 on his list by crowd surfing in a rubber dinghy at the city's Slam Dunk Festival.

The organisers of the festival have now decided to remember the 19-year-old, who died earlier this month, by collecting money for the Teenage Cancer Trust at this year's musical extravaganza.

The festival will see more than 40 bands play across seven stages, indoor and outdoor, at the Civic Halls this Monday.

Civic Halls manager Mark Blackstock said: "We are expecting a big crowd to turn out to Slam Dunk as usual but this year it will be especially poignant given Stephen's brilliant antics last year when he crowd-surfed in a dinghy to the Cancer Bats as part of his bucket list.

"While we don't want everyone crowd-surfing – that was Stephen's thing – we do want to remember him and support the charity he was so passionate about.

"Slam Dunk will be collecting money in his memory to donate to Teenage Cancer Trust."

In memory of Stephen, Slam Dunk organisers will be urging gig-goers to put their spare change into buckets at entrance points to the festival and will then donate the funds to Teenage Cancer Trust.

Stephen raised almost £4 million for the charity after his story captured the hearts of a nation.

After being diagnosed with bowel cancer, the teenager began raising money for charity, and kept his thousands of followers up to date with his exploits on his Stephen's Story Facebook page.

Tributes poured in from celebrities around the world, many of whom had donated to his cause, and posted pictures online urging their followers to support the campaign.

To donate to Teenage Cancer Trust visit www.justgiving.com/stephen-sutton-tct or fans can text FEST to 70300 to donate £3.