Everyone deals with death differently... we dealt with Caz's loss by setting up a huge fund-raiser to help others
FEATUREIN the first of a three-part series ahead of this year’s Cazfest, JAMES BURTON speaks to Caroline Johnstone’s brother Ross about coping with her loss by arranging a huge charity gig
WHEN Caroline Johnstone’s family began planning a fund-raiser in her memory, they had no idea they were about to launch one of the Observer area’s biggest live events.
|
| Caroline Johnstone |
| 1 of 2 | |
|
The plan was simple enough – a few local bands, many of whom had known Caroline, would perform throughout the day for a select audience of those who’d been close to her.
But within a few weeks, as more ideas came forward and more people got on board, Cazfest – as it was now dubbed – had exploded far beyond its original aims and become a fully-fledged music festival.
Since its high-profile debut in 2009, Cazfest has become a red-letter day in local music fans’ diaries, attracting thousands of youngsters and their parents every year and raising more than £50,000.
Past headliners have included household names like Lemar, Tinchy Stryder, The Holloways and Dizzee Rascal collaborator Sway – and this year’s roster includes Sugababes, S Club and Irish doo-wop sensation The Overtones.
It’s a far cry from those early days, when Caroline’s parents Johnny and Lesley were approached by fellow Bishop’s Stortford High School parents Phil and Debbie Godfrey about a possible charity event.
Caroline’s younger brother Ross, now 18 and finishing his A-levels, attended the first few meetings, joined later by his mum and dad. Over the weeks that followed, a 12-strong committee was formed and the ideas began flooding in. Thanks to members’ connections, a line-up including Sway and Subways frontman Billy Lunn was confirmed in 2009.
Speaking exclusively to the Observer in the run-up to this year’s summer spectacular, Ross said: “I don’t think any of us expected it to take off the way it did, apart from possibly my dad and Phil.
“We expected maybe a small-scale thing with no more than 800 or 1,000 people, but it really took off in the day – especially in the evening. The atmosphere in the main tent was just amazing.
“When we got the whole committee and my family up on stage at the end of the night, it felt like a really close-knit festival. That’s when we realised we had something to develop and make much bigger the next year.”
Despite the publicity blitz in the run-up to the first Cazfest, even the organisers were shocked by the sheer volume of visitors – more than 2,000 fans poured through the gates, helping to raise over £20,000.
And last year’s event, headlined by Lemar and Tinchy Stryder, enjoyed nearly double the number of guests and raised almost twice as much cash.
Little Hadham teen Caroline, known to friends as Caz, was on a night out with friends when she collapsed due to sudden heart failure.
She was placed on life support, but her family took the agonising decision to switch it off when it was clear she had suffered irreversible brain damage.
Proceeds from Cazfest go towards raising awareness of heart problems in the young and setting up cardiac screening in schools across Herts and Essex.
The first of these sessions, nicknamed Caztests, have been held in Stortford’s secondaries and have flagged up previously undiagnosed conditions in several students.
Ross said: “We didn’t want to be sitting back thinking about what we could have done – we wanted to be able to say: ‘This is what we’ve done’ and to stop what happened to us happening to other people.
“I think we’ve done that with the testing around the schools – I’d say we’ve had about 10 to 15 big successes in finding abnormalities, and a few of them had issues that really needed to be sorted out. We’re really happy that we’ve helped them and they’ve said they can’t thank us enough for what we’ve done. It’s a good feeling knowing we could have stopped someone going through the same thing as us.”
Although there are no specific plans for the future, the Cazfest team are clear they want it to carry on growing – the larger the festival becomes, the more young people they’ll be able to help. And while it’s been a difficult journey at times, the Johnstone family’s incredible resolve has helped them stay focused on the reasons behind their campaign.
Ross said: “Everybody deals with death in different ways, and our way of dealing with it has been ‘let’s get out there and do something about it’.
“For me, personally, there were never really any difficult moments – there were times, I’m sure, when my dad and especially my mum found the whole concept quite hard, but all three of us pushed for it.
“It has felt weird at times, but it’s good to know that what we’re doing is helping other people. We’ve pulled together as a team and as a committee – we all know what we want to achieve. I know Caroline would love it. We always used to joke about her – she’d love all the attention, and to be honest I can’t think of many people who wouldn’t love something like this being dedicated to them!”
Cazfest will take place on Sworders Field in Bishop’s Stortford on July 2. Tickets are £20 in advance or £25 on the day. For information and bookings, see http://www.cazfest.com/.
* Keep an eye on the Observer for more interviews with the Johnstone family.
