EVENT AT SOUTHSEA CASTLE RAISES MONEY FOR ARTS ACCESS FOR LOCAL YOUTH CLUBS

It’s hard for us to believe that 10 years have passed since we first went LIVE with Strong Island, back in the autumn of 2008. So many things have changed for us and for the city over those years, but there are also things that continue strong and true too. Our first few posts were of a skate video we had made, some scanned flyers (before the days of Facebook events) and our own photos from a bonfire party on the beach.

On the 27th of September we celebrated this milestone with our biggest party yet, a social at Southsea Castle. On a beautiful, warm evening we had music from the Strong Island Recordings crew and Southsea’s very own Charlie ‘Longlive’ Waddington, food from the awesome Need Street Food, free welcome drinks from Dolci Fizz, and of course a welcome return of the infamous Strong Island Charity Raffle.

This year we raised money for four Portsmouth youth clubs (Portsea, Buckland, Paulsgrove and Brook Club in Somerstown) to support the young people in the participation in the arts, be that materials and supplies, gallery visits, workshops or whatever the young people and the club volunteers decide. Incredibly you all helped us raise a grand total of £1,840, so each group will receive £460 that will really make a difference in their access to the arts and creativity.

…you all helped us raise a grand total of £1,840…

…an awesome lineup of prizes kindly donated by local artists, business and organisations…

On the night we had an awesome lineup of prizes kindly donated by local artists, business and organisations. A huge thank you to:

Bored, Head Hairdressing, Oktoberfest, Portsmouth Beer Festival, Dials Festival, Civilisation Of The Rough, Julia De Klerk, Beach Bugging, Need Street Food, Kings Ship, Croxtons, The Marmion Pub, Southsea Bathing Hut, Farmer’s Choice, Sikes, Wave Maiden, Joseph Loughborough, Bell Isle, Meat & Barrel, Halloween Chaos, Victorious Festival, Spencer / Petting Zoo, Staggeringly Good, Southsea Beach Cafe, Southsea Coffee Co, Pie & Vinyl, Mark Persuad, Donna / @winniemmay, The Southsea Deli, Sea Dog, Simon Whitcomb, Pete Codling, I Love Dust, Samo / Play Dead, Charlotte Cornelius, Sadie Tierney, Fark, M-One, Anglepoise & My Dog Sighs.

We would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us over these last 10 years and we’re looking forward to exciting and new projects and promoting & celebrating the wonderful creativity of the city we love.

Photography & Filming by Tom Langford.

…we’re looking forward to exciting and new projects…