Lancaster music producer's foodbank campaign raises £44,000 - with DJ event at city venue coming up this weekend

The campaign - launched as a fundraiser by 27-year-old Lancaster producer Hannah Ford and a friend at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown - has streamed DJ sets online across various platforms on a weekly basis.

What initially began as a fundraiser has developed into an initiative supported by some of the biggest names in the UK music industry.

They are now doing a physical event at Kanteena in Lancaster on Saturday September 12 to try and reach their £50,000 target.

So far, over 600 artists have supported the cause including Artwork, Judge Jules, Gideon, Eclair Fifi, Lady Waks, Crazy P, PBR Streetgang and Medlar.

In addition to DJs, #LIVEFOR LOVE has worked with a variety of venues, festivals, record labels, promoters and radio stations across the UK.

Venues have ranged from Sub Club in Glasgow to Old Street Records in London.

Hannah, who attended Central Lancaster High School and is currently living in Lancaster after returning from London last month, said: "As our industry has been completely put on hold it’s important to still bring people together and we hope that the campaign, as well as raising crucial funds, has done this.

"We are all missing connection and it’s easy to become isolated from the world during this surreal time - #LIVEFORLOVE aims to bring people out of this space and allows them to reconnect through music, at the same time as supporting the most vulnerable in our society."

Radio stations and record labels that have featured the campaign include RinseFM, Loose Lips, Threads Radio, Paradise Productions, Apricot Ballroom Soundsystem and Trouble Tounges.

The Trussell Trust - which runs foodbanks across the UK estimates that more than 14 million people are living in poverty – including 4.5 million children.

You can donate to the campaign HERE.

Some of the #LIVEFORLOVE streaming events include:

Artwork played an 11-hour DJ set which gained 69k total views and raised over £5,000.

A green screen allowed viewers to dial-in via Skype and have their living rooms projected behind him.

DJ Harvey donated £1,000 during Artwork’s set.

DJ Gideön hosted a six-hour vinyl-only stream filled with a selection of salsa, Northern Soul, roots, gospel and house records.

London-based singer/songwriter James Riley, who was due to play at Glastonbury this year, performs from his roof every Friday at 6pm.

FLY Open Air hosted a virtual festival via #LIVEFORLOVE where 12 DJs performed over one day.

Jackmaster and Jasper James played their set live from the usual festival location Hopetoun House in Scotland.

Over a full weekend, Red Rooster Festival streamed live music, DJ sets, dance tutorials, fashion workshops and a tour around the festival site.

Gottwood festival streamed the PBR Streetgang & Friends + Fina agency takeover, which had 12 DJs on over 12 hours. This trended number 1 globally on MixCloud and gained 144k total views on Facebook.

Although primarily working on music streams, LIVE FOR LOVE has also organised Stand For The Word, a full day of 42 poets and spoken word artists that featured award winning poets such as Rob Auton and Luke Wright, and Move For Love, a full day of yoga and fitness.

Upcoming events are posted each week on the #LIVEFORLOVE Facebook page.