THERE will be two special events in Clent on Saturday, May 30, offering families a morning of music-making, community spirit and the chance to save a life.
Clent Connect, the village’s much-loved community hub and cafe, is opening its doors from 10am to 1pm for a morning packed with activities for all ages.
Families can go along, enjoy a cuppa and a homemade cake in the cafe hub and take part in two very different but equally inspiring events.
Join the Band sees Worcestershire’s much-celebrated Music Box bus, run by Severn Arts, roll into the village for a free event.
It will be parked up at Clent Connect for the morning and children and young people are invited to climb aboard and discover the joy of digital music-making.
Working in small groups, participants will get hands-on experience with drum machines, synthesisers, electric guitar, DJ decks and a vocal booth, recreating and recording their favourite sounds using professional music software.
Sessions are open to all ages and no previous musical experience is needed.
Supported by Arts Council England and the Department for Education, Severn Arts is a thriving charitable arts company which has been bringing music and creative arts to people across Worcestershire since 2018. It works in partnership with schools, libraries and community venues to ensure music-making is accessible to everyone.
Life-saving
As part of the DKMS stem cell registration drive, the message is ‘a simple swab could save a life’.
Blood cancer charity DKMS will be at Clent Connect encouraging adults aged 16 to 55 to join the stem cell donor register.
The event is championed by Kate Gallimore, a local surgeon and Clent resident whose own story brings the cause powerfully to life.
Kate was diagnosed with blood cancer after developing unexplained fatigue and a persistent rash.
She found a matching donor on the stem cell register and, thanks to that unrelated donor, has made a full recovery.
She is now back working in the NHS and has set up a community artists group, a studio and a gallery.
Kate is urging others to sign up so that more patients can have the same second chance at life she was given.
Registering with DKMS takes seconds – visitors pick up a free swab kit on the day and swab the inside of their cheeks.
DKMS then analyses the sample to determine tissue type, adding the donor to a global register which gives blood cancer patients worldwide a better chance of finding a match.
Every 14 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer.
Four in ten patients do not find a matching donor.
DKMS, which launched in the UK in 2013, has registered more than 1million potential blood stem cell donors in Britain and has helped give more than 2,500 people a second chance at life.
Registration is open to anyone aged 16 to 55 who is in general good health.
Visit: dkms.org.uk for more on the stem cell register and go to: clentconnect.co.uk for more on Clent Connect.
