Since 2017, Batala Lancaster has adopted a charity each year. Any member can nominate a charity, with members voting at our AGM to decide which one we will fundraise for for the next year.
To date, our adopted charities have been:
- 2017 – St John’s Hospice Lancaster
- 2018 – Blue Skies Hospital Fund Blackpool
- 2019 – Lancashire MIND
- 2020 – 2021 – RNLI
- 2022 – Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue
- 2023 – PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide UK
For each charity, we usually play one or two busking gigs where we play for free and take our collection buckets. In addition, we have played at events the charity has already organised – for instance, we played at the launch of the “Brenda Raworth” D855-class inshore rescue boat at Morecambe Lifeboat station in 2021, in support of the RNLI.
We have even taken our drums to the top of mountains and played there! In April 2023, 20 hardy band members (and their drums) slogged up to the summit of Stony Cove Pike to play in aid of LDSMRA. That year we raised a huge £1872!
Our outgoing charity, PAPYRUS UK, is dedicated to the prevention of suicide in young people. They run a 24-hour “Hope line” telephone and text service and do valuable work in schools, colleges and workplaces around suicide awareness. Our first gig for PAPYRUS was a joint effort with Cog Set, Lancaster’s own track cycle club, who are huge supporters of the charity; we played at their annual awards day in September 2023. We also organised a Christmas busk in Lancaster City Centre in December 2023, and our final gig was another busk on the Glebe in Bowness-on-Windermere on a misty Sunday in March 2024.
Along with a number of online donations, we raised a fantastic £867 for PAPYRUS UK over the season.
Our charity for 2024
We are delighted to announce that our chosen charity for the 2024/25 gig season – which also coincides with Batala Lancaster’s 20th birthday – is CancerCare.
CancerCare offers local cancer support services throughout North Lancashire and South Cumbria, including complementary therapies, creative group activities, bereavement counselling and whole family support. We can’t wait to raise funds for this much-needed local charity! Check out our gigs listing and Just Giving page for updates.