Things to do in Portsmouth: Wedgewood Rooms to host charity gig this June in aid of Cancer Research UK

John Seymour, 54, has reunited with his Reactor 1 bandmate Trevor Broad to stage the ‘Never Forget Festival’ , a night of entertainment by acts who have been impacted by cancer. The charity gig will be held at the Wedgewood Rooms on Saturday, June 3 at 7pm, and guests are asked to arrive promptly so as not to miss any of the show.

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Local acts performing will include Reactor 1, Kojaks Revenge, International Jet Set, Brit Pop Revolution and Sidetracked along with special guest musicians who are yet to be announced.

John, who will be performing at the show in two of the bands, said: ‘Every band that’s playing has got people that have unfortunately passed away recently from cancer.

‘My sister got cancer just before Christmas - luckily she has recovered - but we’ve had probably four or five relatives die in the last year. Then, just leading up to Christmas and out of the blue Trevor’s wife got a brain tumour. She passed away at Christmas and my uncle then passed away as well.

‘I was in a band for 17 years with a guy called Trevor Board and then obviously the lockdowns curtailed it all. It seemed like the natural end of the band we were in - called Reactor One. We talked and thought “wouldn’t it be nice just to do something.” So, we’ve resurrected Reactor One because of that, which is really nice because we’ve all been friends for years.

‘We want to raise a bit of money for charity, obviously, but also give everyone a great night out. A lot musicians struggle with their mental health. Everybody has lost people so it’s something for them to look forward to as well.’

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Tickets for the festival are available for booking through the Wedgewood Rooms website and cost £10. All proceeds from ticket sails and donations collected at the event will go directly to Cancer Research UK and John added that he hopes to raise roughly £4,500. Attendees who have lost a loved one to cancer are invited to bring a photograph of them along to the gig.