Twenty Macmillan nurses and members of staff from King’s Mill and Bassetlaw hospitals have been invited to be guests of honour at a two-day music festival in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support taking place at The Black Market in Warsop in March.

Mac-Stock takes runs over the 25th and 26th of March and organisers have invited 10 members of the Macmillan teams from both hospitals to be VIP guests as a way of saying thank you for the dedicated and essential work they do in supporting local families living with cancer.

Mac-Stock organiser, Graham Parker, says the invitations are as important as the fundraising.

“This is the last stage of my campaign to raise £6,800 in memory of my father who lost his battle with cancer six years ago – the figure represents £100 for every year of his life. The money is essential to keep the Macmillan service running but we also wanted to say thank you in a very personal way to the people who give the care and support that is so needed by families facing the hell that can be cancer,” says Graham.

Jo Gregg is the Macmillan Information and Support Manager at King’s Mill Hospital and says she is touched by the gesture from Mac-Stock; “It is a privilege to be in this role and walk with people in the hours of need and celebrate their victories. It is also amazing to see 20 different bands from all over the country coming to Warsop to support Macmillan; but this personal gesture is really touching and special, I’m sure that everyone who goes to the festival will have an amazing time.”

Graham, who now lives in Sheffield, has been amazed at the support he has received from bands and musicians he knows and those he has recently met.

“Everyone knows our headline act Neville Staple from his days with The Specials, and he will be playing a load if those popular hits. We have festival favourites like Funke and the Two Tone Baby, Doozer McDooze and 3 Eyed Fox playing but we also have a raft of up and coming indie, pop, folk and acoustic guitarists playing that are travelling from as far Kent, Somerset, Berkshire and Hampshire to play for free in support of Macmillan.

“I’ve been bowled over by the generosity of people which has allowed me to keep the ticket prices really low at just £15 for the whole weekend, with under 17s getting in free with a full paying adult. Everyone knows someone that has or has had cancer, it’s a vile disease and people have responded accordingly to my call for help – I can’t thank them enough,” said Graham.

Neville Staple packs halls and festivals wherever he goes, playing smash hits like Ghost Town and Message to you Rudy. Neville Staple, also known as The Original Rudeboy, is credited with changing the face of pop music not only once but twice.

Neville Staple’s thirty-five-year career in the music business is well documented, from the early days with The Coventry Automatics, The Specials and Fun Boy 3 in the late 70s and 80s, to The Special Beat and various other collaborations during his solo career from the 90s up to the present day.

Following on from the 2009 Specials reunion and Neville’s departure from the band in late 2012, he continues to be a forerunner of the ska movement, and continues to thrill audiences with his own excellent band, The Neville Staple Band, at venue and festival appearances worldwide.

The full line-up for Mac-Stock is:

Friday night, 7pm – 12p: 3 Eyed Fox, Charlie Leavy, Brian Stone, Avebury, Russian Kick

Saturday, noon till midnight: Neville Staples Band, Funke and the Two Tone Baby, Doozer McDooze, The Pink Diamond Revue, Headsticks, Sweetchunks Band, Strange Rivers, Red Light Revival, Goldblume, Martin Black, Black Sheep Puppets, Jonny Wallis, Star Botherers Joseph Knight, Skeg Seymour, Kate Auburn

Tickets for Mac-Stock are available from www.ticketsource.co.uk or from www.facebook.com/macstock2016

Pictured are Graham Parker; Macmillan Information Centre Volunteer, Hilda Newsome, and Jo Gregg at the Macmillan Information Centre at King’s Mill Hospital.