Southampton group’s 30-hour ukulele jam raises £10k for charity

A music group has raised £10,000 for charity by jamming on ukuleles for 30 hours.

Southampton Ukulele Jam (SUJ) was raising money for four local charities: No Limits, Yellow Door, The Society of St James and Mountbatten Hampshire.

The jam started at 10:00 BST on Saturday in God’s House Tower and continued for a total of 30 hours.

SUJ’s founder Colin McUke said: “It has been a huge group effort… I’m most grateful.”

The group, which is free to join and open to anyone, meets every fortnight at The 1865, in Southampton.

They tend to steer away from traditional ukulele music and prefer tunes ranging from The Ramones to Lady Gaga.

They have been raising money for Southampton charities supporting young people, people made vulnerable by domestic abuse and homelessness, and people requiring palliative care.

Mr McUke said: “Our music is always delivered with a chaotic sense of fun that emphasises enthusiasm over ability, we just like to have fun.”

He explained that they got the idea for the fundraiser after they performed at Southampton Marathon.

“The question crossed our minds of how long could we actually play for?” he said.

“So we thought we’d find out by challenging our group.

“The group have been fuelled only by an endless supply of enthusiasm, determination to raise as much money as possible for local charities, and maybe a little bit of coffee, cake and sweeties.

“It has been a huge group effort, people have put a huge amount of their skill and talents and enthusiasm into the organisation of this thing.

“I’m left mostly with a feeling of gratitude not just for the people who have made those beautiful donations but also to the people in and around the jam who have just supported this silly idea from the very start.”