Former pupil asks for kind donations as he prepares to play theatre
A renowned bassist for one of the biggest bands in the country has urged people to support a charity close to his heart.
Dave Swift, who is the bassist with Jools Holland and the Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, has set up a post-concert collection following the band's show at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre.
The collection at the show on Sunday, July 23 will hope to raise much-needed funds for Gelliwig, the residential centre in Porthmadog in Wales owned and operated by the Birch Thompson Memorial Fund.
The centre welcomes pupils from Colton Hills in Wolverhampton every year for a week-long residential visit, as well as other groups looking for a residential venue to stay at and the fundraising is part of improving Gelliwig with an outdoor play area.
Mr Swift, a former pupil of Colton Hills, said it was an important centre and his great love for it as a patron.
He said: "The Birch Thompson Memorial Fund is particularly important to me because the Gelliwig Residential Centre in Porthmadogin North Wales was established in memory of two teachers from my old school Colton Hills in my hometown of Wolverhampton, who sadly and suddenly passed away in 1980, the year I left the school.
"It also provides facilities for young people to explore the great outdoors and form new friendships and is a wonderful opportunity for confidence and team-building.
"I’m most proud to be a patron of the charity."
There will be eight people from the fund who will be shaking buckets after the show and Mr Swift said he looked forward to playing at the Grand Theatre, a venue he said was very nostalgic for him.
He said: "I have very fond memories of my parents taking me to pantomimes there as a young child in the late 60’s/early 70’s.
"Being a life-long fan of monster, horror & Sci-Fi movies, my parents also took me to see a stage production of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ at the Grand Theatre in 1975 when I was eleven which featured British television, stage and film actor Peter Wyngarde in the lead role.
"When I became a professional musician at seventeen, my former trombone teacher Phil Johnson at Colton Hills school was also a music booking agent and so he would hire me regularly to play in the orchestra pit of the Grand Theatre for various shows and musicals.
"If it wasn’t for Phil taking me on as his trombone pupil in 1978, and later hiring me as a trombonist and bassist, my life could’ve gone in a very different direction so I owe him my heartfelt gratitude for all he did for me in those formative years."
To find out more about the Birch Thompson Trust, go to gelliwig.org.uk/birch-thompson-memorial
