YOUNG carers will enjoy a musical day out with free tickets to a Lydiard Park festival later this month.

The team behind MFor Festival have teamed up with St Mary's School Swindon to reward selfless youngsters who dedicate their free time to caring for loved ones.

The young carers will get the chance to attend the festival with an adult on Saturday July 31 and see Craig David, Sigala, Ella Henderson and RAYE perform live

This latest initiative comes after organisers dedicated their time in lockdown to helping the vulnerable by delivering shopping, medicines and other essential supplies.

Jade Wakeling of St Mary’s School said: “We are really grateful to the festival organisers for donating tickets to our young carers.

"These are children who face daily challenges of looking after family members with health conditions and often miss out on the chance to have fun. We hope they will have a great time at the event and enjoy a brilliant day out.”

The festival's lineup also includes Artful Dodger, Mark Hill, GRACEY and Phats and Small, who are back by popular demand after their performance at the first fest in 2019..

Along with the music, there will be family fun and activities including a climbing wall, axe throwing, zorbing and much more.

For the first time, there will be a Friday night over-18s dance night on July 30, featuring Five, S Club, Liberty X, Baby D and Rozalla. Then on Saturday, the event will run from 11am to 10.30pm.

Event organisers Graham Stobbs and Debra Collins said: “We’re really pleased that we have been able to gift these carer tickets and give something back to a group of young people who are often overlooked. We will be doing our best to give them a day to remember.”

As in 2019, the event will support former military servicemen and women and raise awareness of mental health issues, so fundraising will also take place during the day, for charities including Walking with the Wounded and Swindon community projects such as The Veterans Hub Swindon.

Visit www.mforfestival.co.uk

Mfor founder Graham Stobbs is set to raise even more funds for The Veterans Hub Swindon this August.

Following his 322-mile kayak fundraiser in 2020, Graham will be taking on a One Foot Forward challenge, setting off on a 630-mile walk from Minehead round the Cornish coast to Poole Harbour that will take up to 40 days to finish. Visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/onefootforward630