“SING FOR YOUR SUPPER”
Two Buskers, One Van, A Pocket Full of Change, Every County in England
We are pleased to announce that we completed our “Sing for Your Supper” busking challenge raising over £1450 for Trussell Trust Food Banks.
Using our love of music and fundraising we busked in every mainland county in England whilst touring and living in a van to raise money and awareness for The Trussell Trust food banks who empower local communities to combat poverty (a charity close to our hearts). As the price of food puts a strain on family incomes, it’s never been a more crucial time for families. An unexpected bill, redundancy or low incomes mean that people on your doorstep may be going hungry or without vital supplies. Food banks up and down the country are busier than ever and literally save lives and restore hope in the lives of vulnerable people.
HOW DID WE DO IT?
Living on the road with no amenities has been a huge challenge although it’s a small price to pay compared to the 13 million people who live below the poverty line in the UK, the challenge required perseverance, endurance, stamina, motivation, patience, resilience, determination, budgeting, organisation and a bucketful of faith.
We supported ourselves throughout the tour meaning money was extremely tight. Gaining busking licenses alone for every county was a mammoth task although in most cases we were able to work alongside councils to complete this challenge. Huge thanks to those who supported us during our challenge, you really made a difference and every penny really does help.
CHALLENGING TIMES
Along the way there were marriage proposals, broken bones, lost voices, broken transport, laughs, love, doubt, happiness, smiles, tears, support slots, visits to foodbanks, performances on radio stations, hunger pains, shower disasters, hospital visits, floods, spills, sunburn, dogging accusations, water shortages, toilet emergencies, encounters with council officials, threats of police action, arguments compromise, encounters with drunks, psychics, witches, smiling children, dancing teenagers, crazy people, demons and angels, wrong turns, right turns, traffic jams, parking problems, free upgrades, rags to riches and lots and lots of music.
We distributed tons of self funded CDs and food bank leaflets, had sing-alongs, dance-alongs, made so many new friends, met people from all walks of life.
WHAT HAPPENED?
We received free train travel and accomodation in London, lost our rucksack, found our rucksack, got soaked in the rain, lost all sense of feeling in our fingers and toes, blown to oblivion, hid from lightening, baked in the van, froze in the van, lost a coil spring in Bath. We were awoken in the middle of the night by a traffic warden, asked in a park if we were up for a dogging session, visited a swimming pool , lived at service stations, nearly became the victim of a scam, survived on noodles, soup, shredded wheat, bananas, pasta, ravioli and lots of coffee.
ANYTHING ELSE?
We jammed in the park, cooked in supermarket car parks, slept in car parks, walked along Hadrian’s wall, swam in the sea, walked through forests enjoyed the great outdoors and have had our eyes opened by the sheer joy, humour and madness of the general public and their reaction and generosity toward us and our music. We experienced so many different encounters and inspirations along our musical journey. Some good, some great, some not so great, some strange, some enlightening and some just pure bonkers.
WHERE DID WE GO?
There are 46 mainland counties in England. Counties we visited are: Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, City of Bristol, Cornwall, County Durham, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, East Riding, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Greater London, Greater Manchester, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Tyne & Wear, Warwickshire, West Midlands, West Sussex, West Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire. Did you see us along our journey? If so let us know.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
We have a blog on every county we visited, you can read our “Sing for Your Supper” diary to see in more detail what life was like during our epic adventure. Theres a book and a DVD on its way too.
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