A one-day mini festival is coming to Charborough Way Green in Sturminster Marshall on Saturday 11th May from 12pm until midnight. Now in its ninth year, the BBQ on The Green festival is a fully volunteer led operation raising money for Forest Holme Hospice in Poole, Guys Cancer Charity in London, and testing for prostate cancer at the Graham Fulford Charitable Trust.
Louise Scrivener explains how BBQ on The Green started, ‘Our first event came about after a very good friend of ours, Mandy Ross-Read, was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. It was such a shock to us all and we really wanted to do something to help.
‘What’s most frustrating as a friend is that you feel so helpless, like you can’t really do that much. So, we decided that one thing we could do would be to raise money for cancer charities to invest in treatments and research and that’s when we set up a committee to organise a fundraising event, our first BBQ on The Green.’
Shortly after, one of the team, Kev Boon, was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer.
‘Finding out about Kev was really hard but also spurred us into action. It was just a simple idea at first, just a good bunch of people in the community getting a few friends and neighbours to come out and enjoy an evening all together donating money for BBQ food and a drink or two.
‘That first year was a very cobbled together affair with a BBQ, a bunch of borrowed gazebos and some staging for a band. The turn-out was amazing and much better than we expected, we had around 200 people come along to support, and we raised £2,000!’
From 2016 to 2019, the event grew and grew with stalls added, more bands, and lots more involvement from local businesses and members of the community. Since 2015, BBQ on The Green has raised and donated over £46,000 to cancer charities.
This year’s event is expected to be the biggest and best to date with a full line-up of live music throughout the day and headliners party rock band, Curveball from Bournemouth, to close. As well as the music, highlights include a BBQ, bar, afternoon tea tent, games, crafts, raffle and lots of stalls.
‘Sadly, both Mandy and Kev have since passed away from their cancers which just shows how important any fundraising is. We organise this in their honour, and to try and help anyone else with a cancer diagnosis live a longer and healthier life.’
Where: Charborough Way Green, Sturminster Marshall, BH21 4DH
What3Words: absent.spell.hockey
When: Saturday 11th May (12.00 – 00.00)
Website: bbqonthegreen.com
Email: info@bbqonthegreen.com
Instagram: @bbqonthegreen
Facebook page: BBQ On The Green
