Oxjam - making a difference

STARS PLAY GIGS IN A CHARITY SHOP TO LAUNCH OXJAM MONTH OF MUSIC

Stars including Fatboy Slim , The Kooks and Jarvis Cocker will launch the month-long Oxjam music festival on 1 st October with a series of exclusive performances in a specially-converted Oxfam shop.
Members of the public can win free tickets to attend any of these shows by entering online at www.oxfam.org.uk/oxjam/shopgigs or texting 'Oxjam' to 87099 before 24 September. Each night, one hundred winners will have the night of their lives in the unlikeliest of venues - a charity shop.

The lineup for the launch shows so far is:

• Monday 1 st October: The Kooks (acoustic) + Jarvis Cocker (DJ set)
• Tuesday 2 nd October: Jamelia + Killa Kela
• Wednesday 3 rd October: Hot Chip (full live set) + Bobby Friction (DJ set)
• Thursday 4 th October: Fatboy Slim + Emmanuel Jal

The Oxfam shop, the location of which remains secret until October, will become an Oxjam shop for the week, selling the best second-hand music in London during the day, as well as celebrity memorabilia from the likes of Elton John , Corinne Bailey Rae and Goldfrapp . During the evening, it will be converted into a gig venue, playing host to these intimate performances in front of a select audience of competition winners.

Fatboy Slim, who will bring the launch events to a climax, said:

"I have always donated my unwanted records to my local Oxfam shop, but performing in one will be a first for me, so I'm really looking forward to it. It also shows that all you need to make an Oxjam event happen is a set of decks, a few choice tunes and a place to play them, so there's really no excuse not to get involved."

Kooks singer Luke Pritchard, who performs on the opening night, said:

"Oxjam is all about thousands of small events adding up to something much bigger, so it's great to join in by playing a small acoustic show. Even better, music fans can get involved, whether coming along to this show or going to a local Oxjam night."

The charity shop gigs officially launch the Oxjam month of music, in which around 40,000 musicians and an audience of 300,000 are expected to take part, making it the biggest music festival ever in the UK .

Oxjam is a festival with a difference: thousands of events put on by music lovers - from large-scale festivals to local sponsored busks - during October will produce the equivalent of 500 days of continuous music, all raising money to fight poverty around the world. Last year, around 20,000 music lovers took part in 1,100 music events, and the festival generated £500,000 for Oxfam.

The target of £1 million from Oxjam this year would be enough to provide safe water for almost 1.4 million people, 20,000 emergency shelters or essential medicines for 10,000 villages.

To find out what Oxjam events are going on in your area this October, visit www.oxfam.org.uk/oxjam or call 0870 905 9060.