Preview: GUMBO! Charity and Vinyl Only, Fools by Jason Alston

My vinyl fascination came primarily from my dad – a confirmed audiophile. But my mother’s small collection of records was no less influential. Her admiration of Joe Cocker’s early soulful tunes was the hook. For those of a certain age, there’ll always be a fascination with playing vinyl. And to add to its mystique, the current renaissance shows how it is the constant format of music…vinyl won’t disappear if your hard drive is hit by a virus or your file format becomes obsolete. Just saying!

A while ago I realised I’d lost my ‘music mojo’ and put it down to the demands of fatherhood. Then recently, inspired by DJ friends, I dusted off my decks and started playing my vinyl again. Now, I’ve always viewed the ‘Steel City’ as a haven for all peoples with a compassion for diverse causes and somehow it seemed a combination of music, vinyl and charity was on the cards.

And so it happened…with the generosity of the Landlord and Lady of one Sheffield’s oldest and friendliest pubs – The White Lion (established 1781), the talents of DJ friends and the generosity of the community of Meersbrook and surrounding areas; GUMBO! was born in May 2015.

GUMBO! is a Creole word describing where everybody comes together, bringing a food ingredient to add to a pot to make a ‘gumbo’ that will collectively feed a whole community. Our GUMBO! is basically an indoor street party with: local DJs doing short, sharp, live music sets; supervised craft activities for kids; dress up and games for kids (but for everybody really!); silent auctions; food and cake.

Since May 2015 thanks to many volunteered hours (including from such prominent Sheffield DJs as Winston Hazel and Solid State), music and the community, GUMBO! has raised over £3000 for local causes such as Mums in Need, St Wilfred’s, Save Meersbrook Hall, The Real Junk Food Project and Heeley Development Trust.

GUMBO! runs on the 3^rd Sunday of the month. 3pm ‘til late. FREE entry @The White Lion, Chesterfield Road. If you’re at a loose end or the kids need to run off some energy (before 7pm) or 4 episodes of ‘Murder She Wrote’ on the bounce is too much… You know where you should go to soothe your soul.

Check out our Facebook page for further info.