A GROUP of musicians who jam together regularly each week in Falmouth are holding a continuous 12 hour long Jamathon to raise money for a children’s cancer charity called Lauren and Rosie’s Fund (L.A.R.F), which will be held on Saturday July 7 at Toast in Falmouth, writes Sophie Sweatman.

The regular players at Jam on Toast, a weekly open mic music jam session held at the venue each Tuesday evening, include Russell Gibson and Dixie Van Hoorn, who are repeating a charity event they held last year at Jacob’s Ladder Inn and they aim to raise more money this year for LARF with the increased number of musicians who frequent their weekly jam night.

LARF was set up in 2010 by the parents of Lauren and Rosie who were two young people who had cancer and the charity aims to improve facilities and support for children and teenagers in Cornwall to beat cancer, as 80% do after early diagnosis and treatment.

Musician and songwriter Russell Gibson first wanted to help LARF after he met one of the founders, Gillian Morgan, at an event in Cornwall and heard about her daughter’s fight against the disease.

Russell knew that Cornish brewer Skinners were known for supporting charities and applied to them to sponsor the event, and the brewery have agreed to provide raffle prizes for the event.

The Jamathon Toast event aims to give all proceeds to LARF with support from the venue who will be giving a free drink to each of the players. Each person who would like to perform will be asked to donate to the charity and listeners can give donations after enjoying some live music. Regular player Mathew Knight is also a photographer and has supplied many a musician with new social media images showing them in action.

New music radio show Sophie’s Spring Board Show, which is on Source FM every Friday 2pm-3.30pm, will be providing some hosting between acts and recording live interviews to be aired on radio on July 20 in a LARF special between songs by musicians who participate in Jamathon Toast.

This will be to encourage songwriters to perform original music and others to jam on percussion provided for the event and their own instruments. Various photographers will be on hand to film performances for those who request it.

Jamathon on Toast takes place from 11am to 11pm on Saturday July 7 at Toast in Falmouth. Musicians wishing to take part and request a particular time slot on a first come first served basis are welcome to attend the regular Jam on Toast event on Tuesday 3 July from 9pm at Toast in Church Street, Falmouth and speak to Russ Gibson.