Disco Fever: Urmston DJ Jonny Spangles treats thousands to live set, raising £7,000 for local charities to reduce impact of Covid-19
51-year old Urmston resident Jon Hindley, better known to many by his DJ name Jonny Spangles, provided local residents and thousands of Facebook Live viewers with some much-needed relief by staging a live DJ set from his street (watch video of it here)
His Sunday afternoon set, which he streamed on Facebook Live, saw him broadcasting to people all over the world from a safe space on the green which sits at the heart of Dalton Gardens where he lives.
Local residents were treated to three hours of ‘Disco On Dalton’, enjoying music from all decades and shout-outs from the safety of their own gardens. They weren’t the only ones, with thousands of people from all over the world, including America, Australia, New Zealand, France, Cyprus and Singapore, watching his set through Facebook.
It’s the latest in a series of events Jon has been running since the lockdown began, aimed at spreading happiness and fun during these challenging times. Prior to Sunday’s set, Jon had hosted nine virtual SpeedQuizzing events, attracting hundreds of players who connected through their smart devices and competed against one another in a series of fast-paced, real-time quizzes.
While Jon’s main intention with these events was to provide some happiness and fun during these challenging times, he set up a PayPal page and invited participants to donate if they could, with all donations going to local charities and initiatives aimed at supporting the local Urmston community.
The response so far has been incredible. Since the 24th March, Jon’s page has attracted over £7,000 in donations, with Jon ensuring that every penny of it is distributed in one way or another to the many local organisations doing so much good at the moment protecting and supporting people through the Covid-19 pandemic. Beneficiaries to date include Trafford Domestic Abuse Services, which has received much needed wet-wipes, toiletries and note-pads purchased using some of the donations, as well as Trafford General Hospital, which has received much needed hand cream supplies, as well as basic supplies for staff such as tea, coffee and biscuits, which they would otherwise have had to purchase out of their own money.
Jon, who runs Unit One Entertainment in Manchester, said: “I’m somebody who just loves to entertain people and bring a smile to their faces, so when it became clear that the business could no longer operate during the lockdown, I started to think about what I could do for free to spread a bit of happiness and fun at a time when it’s most needed.
“Nothing brings people together like a good quiz. For the last 25 years, I have been hosting pub quizzes in my local area and in one particular venue I have been the host for over 20 years, moving from pen to paper to SpeedQuizzing five years ago. After the lockdown I had to make sure I could still bring the quiz to my regular teams, so I started running three virtual SpeedQuizzing events every week, with players invited to make a donation if they could afford to. It really took off, with hundreds of people joining each quiz and many of them making a generous donation, with well over two thousand pounds raised in just a couple of weeks.
“In a similar vein, the idea behind the DJ set was to unite people through music and put a smile on their faces, even if it was just for three hours of the day, with the added bonus that it might encourage a few more donations. But what happened next surpassed all my expectations.
“At one stage there were over 500 people watching my live stream on Facebook and it has now been viewed over 11,000 times. The entire neighbourhood was out in their gardens, dancing and having fun, while observing social distancing guidelines. It was incredible to see, and the donations continued to pour in, with £3,000 raised over the course of my three-hour set. I even extended it due to popular demand, as I’d originally set out to play for just two hours, but the messages and donations just kept coming so I didn’t want to stop.
“The donations mean the world, and they’re already making a huge difference to the many local organisations who are helping to combat Covid-19 and protect the most vulnerable in our local community.”
Jon plans to continue to host the virtual SpeedQuizzing events on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and is also considering doing another street set in the near future as a way of keeping people entertained and lifting spirits.
Anyone wanting to make a donation still can through https://www.paypal.me/jonnyspangles?fbclid=IwAR3LgdKbAQmGXm5VgPWNyV_z-s8aUrIu37BhLvme84FgpUbO1vP0XzDVUr8
