DURING all the hustle and bustle of Fair Week, a cheque was presented to CLIC Sargent in memory of Tom Baxter.

Martin Cording of the Dave Sharp Young Musicians Fund, handed over a cheque for £300 to Tom’s parents Judith and John Baxter before the DSYMF Workshop Band took to the stage.

Every April the Malborough Music Monster Mash raises money for various charities. One of those is the Dave Sharp Young Musicians Fund, with the money donated, they have been able to buy equipment and hire rehearsal space to run monthly music workshops for local young musicians.

Martin Cording said, as he handed over the cheque, that ‘The Monster Mash, with the support of our local community, has achieved a lot over the last seven years, as well as donating £12,000 to cancer-related charities, it has given a stage to young local artists.

‘Back in 2010 we had a young band called Sore Feet play our afternoon session. A year later, with a name change to The Drifting, they won our Under 18s Battle of the Bands competition and they returned to the stage in 2012.

‘The bass player of The Drifting was Tom Baxter. Shortly after starting university, Tom was diagnosed wth cancer and he sadly lost his battle earlier this year.

‘To show our respects and our appreciation of Tom’s contribution to our causes we would like to donate some of this year’s mash money to CLIC Sargent, a charity that provides cancer support for children and young people.’

The Dave Sharp Young Musicians Fund was set up in 2011 in memory of Dave Sharp, a ‘good friend to many including those throughout the local music scene’ according to the Malborough Music Monster Mash website. ?It goes on to say: ‘His enthusiasm for music was second to none, first performing as a teenager himself in band RIGOR MORTIS and reaching the TSB rock school finals. Dave asked for the Music Monster Mash to continue to help support local music.

‘His family and friends decided therefore to set up this fund in Dave’s memory with a view to helping the next generation of budding musicians achieve similar goals and beyond.’