RNLI get £500 boost from ‘Caffi del Cread’ disco fundraiser

A local businessman turned DJ has raised over £500 in online donations for the RNLI. Stephen Edwards said, ‘I saw loads of people doing discos online, the big super star DJ’s and others and I thought, I have background in presenting on Radio Cymru, let’s have a laugh.’

Borrowing speakers and a mixing desk from Amlwch based MAD sound and lighting, Stephen started with a 1 hour disco on Facebook from his back garden in Llanfair PG. He named the event Caffi del Cread after his company CREAD Cyf and by popular demand these sessions were soon extended to 2 hours attracting over 800 viewers.

It was then that Stephen decided to make himself a ‘Caffi del Cread’ t-shirt to wear and following one of his ‘Caffi Openings’ he began to get requests for the t-shirt, he said ‘who would’ve thought that I’d suddenly get inundated, I thought oh no, what have I started! I decided it would be a great opportunity to raise funds for a charity and so I made an order form on Facebook for t-shirts and hoodies, sold at cost, with the added option of a charity donation.’

Stephen explained that he had made the RNLI his charity of choice because of the work his company is currently undertaking with the Police. Having been involved in the development and production of TV documentaries The Mountain, The Straits and The Harbour, CREAD Cyf are currently filming with North Wales Police and one of the Officers he is working with, Leigh McCann, is a volunteer helm at Trearddur Bay Lifeboat Station and it is this friendship that led to Stephen choosing the RNLI as his charity.

As the months went by Stephen said ‘Caffi del Cread went from 800 viewers to 8000, with people listening all over the world from Canada, Australia, Dubai, Portugal and USA, on top of those from the UK and our local community. We recently presented a cheque to the Lifeboat Station for £540 all from having 1hr fun every Saturday night in the back garden of my house in Llanfair PG!’

Leigh commented, ‘Steve’s efforts and kind donation show just how great our local community is and the money will go a long way to help train and provide kit for our volunteers.’

Adding to this Stephen said, ‘I would like to thank the RNLI for their support and a special thank you to the public and friends for joining me over the months for fun in the sun and for supporting the RNLI with their donations. Hopefully we will be allowed to do a live Facebook session from the Lifeboat station, with buckets to raise funds outside of the building while we are all enjoying the sun and the sea next summer.’

RNLI/Andy Hodgson