Jack White to sell off memorabilia for John Peel Centre in Stowmarket
The ex-lead singer of The White Stripes is auctioning off his old guitars, amplifiers, personal items and more as part of a fund-raising effort for a town’s art centre.
Jack White, founder of Third Man Records, is contributing the memorabilia from the label’s archives and his own musical career and collection, with a portion of the proceeds going to the John Peel Centre .
It’s part of Challenge 81, a fundraising campaign for the Stowmarket arts centre culminating in a live event this Sunday.
John Peel, who kick-started many musicians’ careers in his time, would have celebrated his 81st birthday on the same day.
The day will also feature 81 Minutes of Music on YouTube, featuring some notable names including Billy Bragg, Fairport Convention, Peter Hook, Badly Drawn Boy and more.
Patsy Cane, general manager, said: "We were surprised and heartened by the news of being one of the beneficiaries of the Jack White auction.
"We are humbled and grateful, it is so touching to have this support and the news has helped us raise awareness about our centre and our cause.
"Challenge 81 is very important to us, we are working hard to raise necessary funds to ensure we can be here in the coming months to enable us to do what we do best and support our community.
"The amount of videos donated for the 81 Minutes of Music online event, for the Challenge 81 fundraising campaign has exceeded our expectation."
The Challenge 81 campaign is part of a wider national initiative - Save Our Venues - launched by the Music Venue Trust to prevent the closure of hundreds of independent music venues.
Patsy said back in July that the centre was struggling to stay afloat long term because of the financial implications of coronavirus.
It is one of hundreds of venues across the UK battling to survive after the fallout from lockdown.
For more information on the campaign, visit: www.johnpeelcentre.com/challenge-81/
Read more: All the latest news from Stowmarket
