October is Oxjam month with thousands of fundraising music events

This week sees the start of Oxjam, the biggest music festival in the UK, which will see thousands of musicians taking part to help raise half a million for Oxfam with gigs, DJ sets, busks and all kinds of musical endeavours throughout October.

Oxjam is a festival with a difference: thousands of fundraising music events are put on by ordinary people - from large-scale festivals to local sponsored busks. Last year, more than 15,000 musicians took part in over 1,200 events for Oxjam, and raised in excess of £250,000 to fight poverty around the world.

The charity shop gigs officially launch the Oxjam month of music which aims to raise almost half a million pounds, which would be enough to provide school dinners for more than 8 million children, safe water for almost 700,000 people, or buy 20,000 goats, 10,000 emergency shelters or essential medicines for 5,000 villages.

Oxjam manager Benny Littlejohn said, "Because everyone that takes part is the real star of Oxjam, it's really captured people's imagination. Every gig, DJ set or busk will help us raise money to tackle poverty around the world, as well as making for a month of great entertainment for music fans."

Musicians performing at an Oxjam gig this month can also submit their music online at www.oxfam.org.uk/oxjam for the chance to perform on the Oxjam Stage at the Leeds Festival 2009. A shortlist of the best twenty bands from across the UK will have songs uploaded onto the Oxjam website for the public to vote on. The act with the most votes will perform at the Leeds Festival, get their hands on backstage passes to hang out with the stars, and be able to bring along some friends each too.

Oxjam highlights across the country include everything from heavy metal to Christian rock, from Soweto jazz to Detroit house, from traditional folk to dubstep and grime, right across the UK. There's a non-stop six-hour busking marathon in Worcester; An Oxjammer walking from Canterbury to Rochester in Kent in 24 hours while performing traditional Japanese flute music; and a show featuring winners from Channel 4's Popworld competition in Redditch.

James Righton from the Klaxons said, "For us, Oxjam is the highlight of the festival season because everyone gets to make the noise themselves. The only thing more exciting than putting on your own event to help fight poverty is knowing that you're part of a movement of thousands of gigs, club nights and events right across the country."

Last October, stars such as Jarvis Cocker, Jamelia, Hot Chip, The Kooks and Fatboy Slim took part in Oxjam gigs of their own, bringing the house down at a series of gigs held in a specially-converted Oxfam shop in Dalston.

This year, they continue to lend their voices in support: Hot Chip's Joe Goddard said, "I spend most of my time doing trivial things in the name of pop music, so doing my bit for Oxjam is undeniably a good thing. We should all try to slip a few good things into our otherwise selfish lives, so please get involved with Oxjam in some way if you can."

Fatboy Slim said, "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."

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

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