School rock gigs to aid hospice

Charity rockers . . . Alex Holt (front) with, from left, Nick Finnegan, Niall Buckley and James Fearns

ROYTON band “Not The Majority” is heading for the stage to raise cash for Dr Kershaw’s,

The teenage four-piece rock band will put on end-of-term lunchtime gigs at local secondary schools, charging just £1 each for pupils to watch.

And they hope their efforts will rake in around £2,000 for Dr Kershaw’s Hospice.

Vocalist Niall Buckley’s aunt, Margaret Wood, is a nurse at the hospice, and it was a chance statement to her brother that it relied on fundraising for its existence, that sparked the idea.

Niall’s father and Margaret’s brother, Sean Buckley, said: “It came as a bit of shock. I thought the NHS paid to run the hospice, but it doesn’t.

“I asked the lads if they would raise money for it through end-of-term concerts and they said yes.”

All aged 17, the quartet consists of Oldham Sixth Form College student Niall, and Our Lady’s School pupils James Fearns (guitar), Alex Holt (drums) and Nick Finnigan (bass guitar).

They already have four gigs booked at Hulme Grammar, Saddleworth, St Augustine and Crompton House Schools, and are still waiting to get the go ahead for their fundraising venture from other secondary schools in the borough.

Mr Buckley said: “I was surprised when some schools refused — the more pupils the band gets to play for, the more will be raised for Dr Kershaw’s.

“The gigs are all in the last week of term and these lads are good - the place always gets full when they are on.

“They play rock and roll — anything from ‘Johnny Be Good’ to ‘Sex on Fire’ by The Kings of Leon,” he added.

“They will put on more gigs if the demand is there, and hopefully raise a couple of thousand pounds for the hospice.

“Everyone in Oldham must have been touched by Dr Kershaw’s and this is a good way to help the hospice.”