A KIND-HEARTED DJ has donated the funds he raised from hosting a nostalgia-filled rave night to a local foodbank.
John Fearon, a delivery driver by day and DJ Feezer by night, raised hundreds of pounds from hosting a club night and decided to use the money to help those in need in his local area.
The 43-year-old, from Bellshill, told how the idea originally came about to have a night for fellow ravers in his age group.
He said: “At Christmas time I spoke to an old school friend and fellow DJ, Joe ‘Benny’ Lynch, and we agreed to do an old school dance night.
“We’re both the same age and wanted to create a night aimed at people aged 35-50 celebrating 90s dance music. After Covid we just wanted to put on a good wee night.
“We pencilled in a date and charged a fiver a ticket so people would be more likely to come.”
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After a successful night, John and Joe had no idea what to do with the £600 they had accumulated from both ticket sales and a raffle.
He said: “We sold about 90 tickets and at the end we were like, we may as well do something good with it so then we looked into taking it to charity.
“Then I thought, foodbanks are the number one priority just now.
“I knew a few foodbanks in Bellshill, and one had to close from lack of funding which I thought was such a shame.”
John contacted Communities Together, a foodbank which started operating during lockdown to help ordinary people who were suddenly stuck, possibly lost their jobs and suddenly could not afford the weekly food shop.
John added: “I feel there’s a misconception with foodbanks and that they’re only used by certain people, but they’re used by lots of people who are just trying to feed their families.
“Having a night out, that’s something we take for granted. You don’t think for one second that people struggle to put food on the table.”
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John and Joe handed over the donation to the foodbank volunteers on Tuesday, and John hopes that the gesture can help people and show that communities can help each other.
He said: “I feel like the penny is beginning to drop for people that this is happening here and now, and people are struggling.
“I did this not to give myself a pat on the back, but just to make everyone aware of what is happening on your own doorstep.”
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