14/10/2024
Riff Raff Oktoberfest 2024
Sponsored by Martin Anthony Recruitment. (Thankyou so much for your support)
Well after floating Noah’s Ark last year in a catastrophic storm we very unintentionally had a good go wrecking Flixton Cricket Club’s pitch so this year we decided to avoid upsetting the good people that run Flixton CC and take Riff Raff Oktoberfest indoors at the community hub that is the George H Carnall. (A great team to deal with @ this awesome community hub)
Funny old year Riff Raff fundraising wise with the world upside down and cost of living crisis in full swing you’d have thought that our little charity would have been inundated with enquiries for funding hardship cases. This was not the case at all. That said we didn’t have to look very far to find the right causes to support.
In Spring I tipped up at the Manchester Marathon with Pet Shop Daz to dish out water, cider and to cheer on the wonderful athletes competing in this years race.
Looking on we were absolutely blown away by the efforts of Urmstonion Mike Koch and Wiganise Eddie Edwards who were stupid and brave enough to have a go at the Marathon bare footed marathon in aid of Eddie’s kids. They came past us at Stretford Precinct dressed as Fred n Bam Bam Flintstone with bleeding feet in absolute bits so we just had to catch up with them 13 miles later to witness the gross madness of the obsessed British fundraising Do-Gooder. It was a pleasure to watch them come by basically holding each other up with the skin in their feet peeled back like old discarded bananas covered in real hero man blood - Minging doesn’t cover it.! Inspirational doesn’t cover it. Amazing self hurt for the cause.
Digging into the detail of this mission Mike Koch’s fundraising year it was clear to us that we had found exactly who needed help this year.
Eddie’s children suffer the extreme effects of Dravits syndrome. The impact of this condition on the life quality of the kids and the 24 hour care required is mind blowing. The children’s constantly experiencing fits and are challenged by learning difficulties. This is just a snippet of the challenges that the kids, mum and dad face constantly.
Max
Cause 2 Max is an Urmston lad who has battled through Leukaemia. Rotten bastard disease that it is. A top young man pretty much robbed of his childhood by the pandemic , then Leukaemia then isolating again as his immune system gets going again. A very tough gig for him and his family.
Highlights at Oktoberfest 2024
The Robot (Is he dead? Is he alive? the bu**er never moved for 15 mins
Paddy Cremin the worlds most drunk and happy charity volunteer of all time 😂
Cause one - Jenson and Layla getting up on Stage with Ruff Trade.
Cause 2 Max actually playing guitar on stage with Oasis tribute headliner Fakermaker that was a real moment
Roll of Honour
Thanks to all of the Engine Room Legends for your ongoing support.
My wonder Wife Jo
Wingman John O’Leary
Anthony & Adele Jewell
Trustee Racey
Mandy Clancy
Helen Lamont
Karen Warbs
Wayne Jones
Roy Mathews
Our lady hero Kate Benson pulled more strings than a harpist to secure the venue for us gratis. This was an unbelievable gesture from Kate and GAP. Awesome it meant we got to make some dough 💚🙏
John O’Leary and Mark from NUOE sorted the outside stage again for free. I gorgeous beast John xx
Jonny Spangles
Lovely bloke Jonny with the best DJ voice in the west gave his time for free and gave us all a bogie woogie dance off in between the bands.
The Bars
Setting up 40 trusted p**s can friends to work on an all day bar was always going to be a fun solution to a manpower problem and so it played out. We just couldn’t afford to go ale pumps this year. But our people had an absolute blast.
Karen Warbs and Jo Doneghan were brilliant setting us up and keeping things working massive thanks to ya’s
Paddy won the fun at work challenge closely followed by a hoard of great folk who seemed to really love working on the bar.
Bless Gaynor Smith who had the best titanic day possible. She was working a payment device unbeknown that every time she accepted a card payment her own debit card was picking up the bill (back of her phone) very amusing 😂 Gaynor’s day got worse as later she got into a right pickle in the bog I think she said her phone went in the throne 😂 but in true Riff Raff style Gaynor managed to get her work to make a donation in excess of her funny boo boo. Thanks so much G. Brilliant xx
Big thanks to the bar squad
Our Executive runners who kept kept raiding Lostock wines for us: Kochy, Pricey & Adele
Bar bi***es - Please forgive me if I’ve missed u off.
To the bensons, Karen Warbs, Joe Donaghan, Warwick, Stacy thomo. To all me ole muckers and long time Riff Raff supporters Racey’s, Robes, Campbell’s, carroll’s. The Blakes, Horny’s. Mandy & Helen Lamont
Jo Green Jo Tans, steve Price Donna and Jimmy and Wayne jones the hardest working man going. It’s been a pleasure to get to know and work with ya Wayne.
Foodie Stalls
Before he jumped on the bar Chef Wayne led Top ladies Michelle Clay n Grace Lees who very kindly worked for freebies supporting Young uns Martha aka Martha Burger and the Sausage Boyz Lewis Jewell & James Boyle to keep everyone fed in the daytime. Thankyou much great feedback 💚🙏
My Minder/Riff Raff Riot Police
carole the carer bless u Mrs
Wrap Up
Running up to the festival predictably u MANC’s decided to wait until last minute to buy your tickets so I had to spend most of the year a bit stressed out as ultimately with things like festivals everyone wants paying up front before the money comes in so I have to say for the first year ever I struggled a bit to balance the stress vs reward but the big day more than swung that back around. Many people pulled me to share how much these gatherings mean to them, Mandy Trevor in particular has my bottom lip going bless ya.
So I think this is what happens next. The Riff Raff is going to amalgamate and join Mike Koch’s NSM foundation. With our first action being donating £500 to Roy Mathews affiliated animal sanctuary charity from Oktoberfest this leaves £6700 in the bank to go to the main causes we are meeting with pricey this week to agree on the process for closing down Riff Raff accounts and moving the dollar over to Max,Jenson and Layla’s fund taking NSM’s past £30k with just 5k to go to get these kids away on dream holidays.
Meetings will take place in the next few weeks to establish what this looks like going forward but I’d like to thank everyone that has supported Riff Raff down the years we’ve had some great times, experiences and we’ve helped a lot of amazing people.
Stephen Tanswell would always say to me - Green your s**t. You can do a lot better. Challenge yourself more and he was always inspiringly right and you know what it may be time for a recalibration but out of the other side whoever decides to join us to carry on delivering support for Manc’s in need will be part of something amazing I can feel that in my bones.
Celebration
Finally I’d like to invite everyone to join us on Friday Nov the 1st to celebrate with Riff Raff secretary & all round good egg Steve Price.
I’d like to use this doo to say thankyou to everyone that has helped and supported Riff Raff over the years.
Gonna be a top night with the Retro Actice doing Bandioke where members of the audience can get up and sing with the band. Wayne’s doing the grub and I’m getting on the decks for the last hour.
Please come and join us details of a great cause here:
Tickets Here:
https://www.tickettailor.com/checkout/view-event/id/4322999/chk/dbe1/?modal_widget=true&widget=true
🎸🎤Join us to raise the roof and funds!🎤🎸
Are you tired of your epic shower singing going unnoticed? Fed up of busting a vocal chord at the traffic lights and no one can hear? Are you ready to unleash your inner rockstar? Blondie, Mick Jagger....now YOU!
Join us for an unforgettable night of music, fun, and philanthropy at BWP Inspire's Bandyoke Karaoke - An amazing chance to sing your favourite song with our live band Retroactive as we raise much needed funds for our community charity Everyone Can.
Located in the heart of Sale town centre, Everyone Can is an incredible charity that plays a vital role in our community. With the help of their talented staff, volunteers, and fundraisers, they transform lives and improve quality of life through the power of gaming. Everyone Can empowers children and adults to game independently, fostering social connections that can last a lifetime. It also gives parents and carers the chance to spend quality time together and with their loved ones.
This charity is truly life-changing, making a significant impact not only in Sale but across the entire country.
Let’s come together, raise the roof, and raise some funds for an amazing cause—let’s make it a night to remember!
M41'ers Urmston
Urmston M41er,s
Victoria Lianne Doherty
Anthony Anilox Jewell
Roy Matthews
NSM Foundation
Electromantics
RUFF TRADE
The Retro Active
Fakermaker - Oasis Tribute
John O'Leary
Lee Race
Inspire
