Part 15 of our full-length video feature on this year's Cazfest music festival in Bishop's Stortford. See http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk for all the latest entertainments news in East Herts and West Essex!
1st Stop for JADE EWEN and THE SUGABABES News,Photos,Videos, Information and Events Diary.Also Jade Ewen's Favourite blog and is the difinitive record of her music and career.
Showing posts with label Cazfest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cazfest. Show all posts
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Sugababes Video HD Freak Like Me Cazfest 2011
Cazfest 2011 - 14 - Sugababes [HD] Uploaded by HertsEssexObserver on 25 Jul 2011
Part 14 of our full-length video feature on this year's Cazfest music festival in Bishop's Stortford. See http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk for all the latest entertainments news in East Herts and West Essex!
Monday, 4 July 2011
Sugababes headline Bishop's Stortford's third annual Cazfest [HD] 2.7.11
VIDEO: Sugababes thrill Stortford crowds at Cazfest
By James BurtonTHOUSANDS of screaming fans flocked to Bishop's Stortford when S Club, The Overtones and Sugababes played at Saturday's (July 2) Cazfest.
The day-long extravaganza also included performances by Stortford-born R&B sensation Ed Drewett, indie bands Goldheart Assembly, Major Major and The Last Men and dozens more.
Sorry can't embed the HD video , but very high quality , go visit and support Cazfest ~ JEF
Uploaded by HertsEssexObserver on 3 Jul 2011
Top pop trio Sugababes played for a screaming growd of thousands at Bishop's Stortford's third annual Cazfest.
http://youtu.be/8G6W5C6A7vg
Saturday, 2 July 2011
Cazfest setting up and getting ready for the arrival of the Sugababes 2.7.11
Cazfest setting up and getting ready for the arrival of the Sugababes 2.7.11
Cazfest 2011 - SATURDAY July 2nd 2011
Bigger and better than ever before, Cazfest 2011 will take place on SATURDAY July 2nd 2011 at a new venue, Sworder's Field in the middle of Bishops Stortford, which will make getting there, and getting home afterwards, much, much easier! With a fantastic line up and the usual great choice of food and drink, CRY and Cazfest merchandise and a dance stage you are guaranteed a fabulous day out in support of a truly worthwhile cause.
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
£3,500 for Cazfest
£3,500 for Cazfest
By Nick Thompson, Reporter Wednesday, June 29, 2011
11:57 AM
11:57 AM
UK CHART toppers the Sugababes are set to perform alongside a host of well-known acts and local bands at the third installment of a charity music festival.
Cazfest, a festival to raise awareness for cardiac risk in the young will be held between 11am and 11pm on Saturday July 2 at Sworder’s Field in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire - tickets are available.
Bands already announced to appear on the main stage are include DC Effect, Reachback, Encore, S Club and The Overtones.
The festival was first held in 2009 and attracted 2,500 people while in 2010 over 3,500 people came along to help raise over £30k
The 2011 music festival will be mainly sponsored by Stansted Community Fund for the second year running.
Trustee Johnny Johnstone was delighted to receive a cheque of £3,500 from Marcella M’Rabety, corporate social responsibility manager for Stansted Airport.
Caroline Johnstone ‘Caz’ was a 17-year-old student of The Bishop’s Stortford High School studying for her “A” levels who hoped to go to Newcastle University.
On June 6, 2008, while with friends at a night club she collapsed and despite the prompt attendance of the medical services she was never able to regain consciousness and her parents took the agonising decision to turn off her life support.
Mr Johnstone, who is Caz’s father, said: “I am delighted that once again Stansted Community Fund has decided to support Cazfest through both the cash donation and the awareness day.
“We are very grateful for their support of our aims and objectives and their belief in what we are trying to do for the youth in the area.
“We very much look forward to seeing as many people as possible at the festival. Preparation is going really well and we cannot wait for the big day”.
Cazfest was established to create greater awareness of cardiac risk in the young and to finance the heart screening of Sixth Form students in Hertfordshire and Essex.
For more information, visit cazfest.com. Tickets start at £20.
Friday, 24 June 2011
Ahead of next month’s Cazfest Caroline Johnstone’s dad Johnny about coping with his loss.
Caroline Johnstone's dad: 'I couldn't help my daughter, but I can help other people's'
AHEAD of next month’s Cazfest, SINEAD HOLLAND speaks to Caroline Johnstone’s dad Johnny about coping with his loss.
IN the depths of despair, a shaft of light shone in the darkness and gave a new meaning to Johnny Johnstone’s life. He was facing the bleakest moment any parent could. Caroline, his beloved first-born child, was in a coma and doctors had given the devoted dad and his wife Lesley the very worst news.
Their only daughter – the delicate baby who had grown into the family’s diplomat, a trusted sister to younger brother Ross – and to her many friends the very life and soul of the party – was gone.
There was no hope and no choice but to turn off her life support following her collapse at a nightclub.
Johnny left his 17-year-old daughter’s bedside briefly to grab a breath of fresh air to clear his head and found the way forward: a group of Caroline’s friends were the first thing he saw when he left the intensive care unit. They knew there was no chance of seeing the vivacious girl they called Fairy Caz, but they waited nevertheless.
That terrible day in June 2008 was when he realised he would do all he could to protect youngsters like them – and save other parents from the pain of losing a child to sudden cardiac death.
He said: “This one incident convinced me I had to do something. We were at Princess Alexandra Hospital [in Harlow] with Caroline in a coma and having been told there was nothing we could do, we would have to turn off the life support. I went outside and there were 20 to 30 friends hanging around outside, knowing they could not visit her, but wanting to be close to her.
“That struck me enormously and I decided that I could not do anything more for my daughter, but I could do something for other people’s.”
And so Cazfest – and the Caztest – was born. July 2’s musical extravaganza in Stortford’s Sworders Field – headlined by The Sugababes, The Overtones and Caz’s favourite group when she was a kid, S Club – helps finance a screening programme which has so far scanned 400 teenagers in the town for the kind of heart abnormalities that can be life-threatening and identified a number who need further investigation.
Johnny said: “With the music festival, it’s hugely important to remember that yes it’s about celebrating Caroline’s life and raising money, but it’s also about raising awareness of heart risk in the young.”
As part of the programme, Caztest finances the testing of a class of sixth-formers at participating secondaries. Even with subsidy from CRY, the charity which worked with the Johnstones in the awful aftermath of Caroline’s death, each student’s check costs around £30.
“We say to the schools, we will pay for the first year of screening and thereafter we would ask the school to take on the cost.”
The Bishop’s Stortford High School, where Caz was studying for her A-levels, is already into its second cycle. The Herts and Essex High School has joined the project, and both Birchwood High and Hockerill Anglo-European College, where Caz was also a pupil, are also getting involved and that is just the start of a project Johnny hopes will grow and grow.
The results of the ECG screening are confidential, but Johnny said: “Out of one class of 120 screened, six have been referred to their GP or a specialist.
“Of course it does not ease the loss of Caroline, but it gives us an objective and a focus – and pleasure and relief that we know 400 children will not die like Caroline.”
According to CRY, 12 young people die every week from undiagnosed heart problems. That Caroline became one of them is a cruel twist of fate for Johnny and wife Lesley – but one which reinforces their belief in testing for all.
Johnny recalled the arrival of his dainty little daughter, complete with a shock of dark hair which later turned blonde: “Caroline was born with a hole in her heart. It did not seal up when she was born and that was detected two to three days into her life.”
The mite was in and out of hospital for the next six months before the Johnstones, who live in Little Hadham, faced a further blow. During the repair operation, surgeons damaged a valve and a pacemaker was fitted to protect Caroline. It had to be replaced when she was four, but Caroline then thrived, becoming a bright and bubbly teenager who dreamed of studying for an English degree at Newcastle University.
At her inquest in 2009, the coroner was told that a post-mortem revealed Caroline suffered irreversible brain damage due to a sustained atrial arrhythmia, but that her fatal heart problem was not caused by the failure of the pacemaker.
Johnny said: “The irony is she was one of the best monitored children because of her previous condition, but that did not stop this happening to her.”
His quest now is to ensure other teenagers get the Caztest – and the chance to live
IN the depths of despair, a shaft of light shone in the darkness and gave a new meaning to Johnny Johnstone’s life. He was facing the bleakest moment any parent could. Caroline, his beloved first-born child, was in a coma and doctors had given the devoted dad and his wife Lesley the very worst news.
Johhny Johnstone
There was no hope and no choice but to turn off her life support following her collapse at a nightclub.
Johnny left his 17-year-old daughter’s bedside briefly to grab a breath of fresh air to clear his head and found the way forward: a group of Caroline’s friends were the first thing he saw when he left the intensive care unit. They knew there was no chance of seeing the vivacious girl they called Fairy Caz, but they waited nevertheless.
That terrible day in June 2008 was when he realised he would do all he could to protect youngsters like them – and save other parents from the pain of losing a child to sudden cardiac death.
He said: “This one incident convinced me I had to do something. We were at Princess Alexandra Hospital [in Harlow] with Caroline in a coma and having been told there was nothing we could do, we would have to turn off the life support. I went outside and there were 20 to 30 friends hanging around outside, knowing they could not visit her, but wanting to be close to her.
“That struck me enormously and I decided that I could not do anything more for my daughter, but I could do something for other people’s.”
And so Cazfest – and the Caztest – was born. July 2’s musical extravaganza in Stortford’s Sworders Field – headlined by The Sugababes, The Overtones and Caz’s favourite group when she was a kid, S Club – helps finance a screening programme which has so far scanned 400 teenagers in the town for the kind of heart abnormalities that can be life-threatening and identified a number who need further investigation.
Johnny said: “With the music festival, it’s hugely important to remember that yes it’s about celebrating Caroline’s life and raising money, but it’s also about raising awareness of heart risk in the young.”
As part of the programme, Caztest finances the testing of a class of sixth-formers at participating secondaries. Even with subsidy from CRY, the charity which worked with the Johnstones in the awful aftermath of Caroline’s death, each student’s check costs around £30.
“We say to the schools, we will pay for the first year of screening and thereafter we would ask the school to take on the cost.”
The Bishop’s Stortford High School, where Caz was studying for her A-levels, is already into its second cycle. The Herts and Essex High School has joined the project, and both Birchwood High and Hockerill Anglo-European College, where Caz was also a pupil, are also getting involved and that is just the start of a project Johnny hopes will grow and grow.
The results of the ECG screening are confidential, but Johnny said: “Out of one class of 120 screened, six have been referred to their GP or a specialist.
“Of course it does not ease the loss of Caroline, but it gives us an objective and a focus – and pleasure and relief that we know 400 children will not die like Caroline.”
According to CRY, 12 young people die every week from undiagnosed heart problems. That Caroline became one of them is a cruel twist of fate for Johnny and wife Lesley – but one which reinforces their belief in testing for all.
Johnny recalled the arrival of his dainty little daughter, complete with a shock of dark hair which later turned blonde: “Caroline was born with a hole in her heart. It did not seal up when she was born and that was detected two to three days into her life.”
The mite was in and out of hospital for the next six months before the Johnstones, who live in Little Hadham, faced a further blow. During the repair operation, surgeons damaged a valve and a pacemaker was fitted to protect Caroline. It had to be replaced when she was four, but Caroline then thrived, becoming a bright and bubbly teenager who dreamed of studying for an English degree at Newcastle University.
At her inquest in 2009, the coroner was told that a post-mortem revealed Caroline suffered irreversible brain damage due to a sustained atrial arrhythmia, but that her fatal heart problem was not caused by the failure of the pacemaker.
Johnny said: “The irony is she was one of the best monitored children because of her previous condition, but that did not stop this happening to her.”
His quest now is to ensure other teenagers get the Caztest – and the chance to live
Friday, 17 June 2011
Sugababes are at Cazfest, Caroline's Mum speaks of loss
Mum speaks of loss ahead of Cazfest
AHEAD of next month’s Cazfest, ELEANOR PATMORE speaks to Caroline Johnstone’s mum Lesley about coping with her loss.
"YOU can look over the edge of what it might be like to lose a child but until you fall you don’t know what it’s like down there.”
Three years on from losing her daughter, Lesley Johnstone admits every day is a battle to face down the grief that threatens to overwhelm her still.
While she has been able to draw strength from the support of family, friends and the community, it is the understanding of those who have lived through every parent’s worst nightmare that has helped her begin to face life without Caroline.
“I have to face it every day and sometimes it gets the better of me,” she said. “Something simple will trigger it and I’ll have an awful day. Other times it will sit on my shoulder and I’ll just have to tell it to f*** off.
“Grief will drive you insane if you let it, but what I’ve come to learn is that the sadness and the pain is part of me now. It will always be part of me but I won’t let it be me.”
Lesley, 53, said that coming to terms with Caroline’s death in June 2008 will be a long and difficult road, but one she won’t have to walk alone. Soon after her 17-year-old daughter died, she got in touch with the Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) charity and, four months after they had laid ‘Caz’, as she was known, to rest, she and husband Johnny, of Chapel Lane, Little Hadham, were invited by CRY chief executive Alison Cox to attend a bereavement support day.
“I don’t have the words to describe what it was like to walk into a large conference room full of people who had lost children like us,” Lesley said. “It was very strange and sad, but I also felt safe as everybody had been through something similar.
“I’ve got fabulous family and friends and a very supportive community, but it struck us both, particularly after we started speaking to other people, that you do get a lot of comfort from people who really, really understand what you’re going through.”
It was at this seminar in Wimbledon in October 2008 that Lesley met another grieving mother who was to inspire her to become a CRY counsellor.
Also called Caroline, she too had lost her son, Andrew, at the age of 17 in 1997 when her daughter was 15, the same age as Lesley’s son Ross at the time.
“She mirrored us as a family and I was just in awe of her,” Lesley said. “When you’re in the early stage of that deep, horrible place that grief takes you, you think you’ll never function normally again, but here was a woman who had lost her son at the same age as we’d lost Caroline who seemed to be functioning normally.
“I remember someone saying to her at the end of the day ‘Can you ever be happy again? Can you laugh and have fun?’ She stopped for a moment and then said ‘Yes, you’ll have laughter in your lives, but that deep, profound happiness you probably will never have again’. It was very honest and I’ve realised since that you don’t even know you have that deep, profound happiness until you lose it.”
Lesley added: “For me, she was inspirational. You’re so overwhelmed with your fear that you’re desperate for someone to help you, to tell you everything’s going to be OK. She didn’t lie to us but she still gave us hope.”
Caroline 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.
Lesley is now halfway through a two-year training course to be one of CRY’s ‘bereavement supporters’.
“We spent the first year doing a lot of talking, sharing our stories and making sure we’re in a safe enough place so we can be of help to others,” she said. “You’re no use to someone if you get upset. The next part is more theoretical. It’s what I call the ‘head’ stuff.”
Her own experience has taught her that grief is a deeply personal journey and that the way people respond to losing a loved one varies enormously. “It’s very different for everyone – even within my own family we have our own ways of coping,” she said. “For me, [becoming a counsellor] has helped me, not to accept what has happened, but to deal better with the horrible, deep, dark places that you go to.
“We’re all different people with different relationships with our children so our responses and reactions will be different. There isn’t a guidebook to grief. All you can do is walk alongside them and hold their hand.”
Cazfest, the third annual music festival held in Caroline’s memory, will take place on Sworders Field in Bishop’s Stortford on July 2 with the likes of The Sugababes, S Club and The Overtones. Tickets are £20 in advance or £25 on the day. For information and bookings, see http://www.cazfest.com/ Or for more stories on Cazfest, visit our music page.
"YOU can look over the edge of what it might be like to lose a child but until you fall you don’t know what it’s like down there.”
Lesley Johnstone
While she has been able to draw strength from the support of family, friends and the community, it is the understanding of those who have lived through every parent’s worst nightmare that has helped her begin to face life without Caroline.
“I have to face it every day and sometimes it gets the better of me,” she said. “Something simple will trigger it and I’ll have an awful day. Other times it will sit on my shoulder and I’ll just have to tell it to f*** off.
“Grief will drive you insane if you let it, but what I’ve come to learn is that the sadness and the pain is part of me now. It will always be part of me but I won’t let it be me.”
Lesley, 53, said that coming to terms with Caroline’s death in June 2008 will be a long and difficult road, but one she won’t have to walk alone. Soon after her 17-year-old daughter died, she got in touch with the Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) charity and, four months after they had laid ‘Caz’, as she was known, to rest, she and husband Johnny, of Chapel Lane, Little Hadham, were invited by CRY chief executive Alison Cox to attend a bereavement support day.
Caroline Johnstone
“I’ve got fabulous family and friends and a very supportive community, but it struck us both, particularly after we started speaking to other people, that you do get a lot of comfort from people who really, really understand what you’re going through.”
It was at this seminar in Wimbledon in October 2008 that Lesley met another grieving mother who was to inspire her to become a CRY counsellor.
Also called Caroline, she too had lost her son, Andrew, at the age of 17 in 1997 when her daughter was 15, the same age as Lesley’s son Ross at the time.
“She mirrored us as a family and I was just in awe of her,” Lesley said. “When you’re in the early stage of that deep, horrible place that grief takes you, you think you’ll never function normally again, but here was a woman who had lost her son at the same age as we’d lost Caroline who seemed to be functioning normally.
“I remember someone saying to her at the end of the day ‘Can you ever be happy again? Can you laugh and have fun?’ She stopped for a moment and then said ‘Yes, you’ll have laughter in your lives, but that deep, profound happiness you probably will never have again’. It was very honest and I’ve realised since that you don’t even know you have that deep, profound happiness until you lose it.”
Lesley added: “For me, she was inspirational. You’re so overwhelmed with your fear that you’re desperate for someone to help you, to tell you everything’s going to be OK. She didn’t lie to us but she still gave us hope.”
Caroline 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.
Lesley is now halfway through a two-year training course to be one of CRY’s ‘bereavement supporters’.
“We spent the first year doing a lot of talking, sharing our stories and making sure we’re in a safe enough place so we can be of help to others,” she said. “You’re no use to someone if you get upset. The next part is more theoretical. It’s what I call the ‘head’ stuff.”
Her own experience has taught her that grief is a deeply personal journey and that the way people respond to losing a loved one varies enormously. “It’s very different for everyone – even within my own family we have our own ways of coping,” she said. “For me, [becoming a counsellor] has helped me, not to accept what has happened, but to deal better with the horrible, deep, dark places that you go to.
“We’re all different people with different relationships with our children so our responses and reactions will be different. There isn’t a guidebook to grief. All you can do is walk alongside them and hold their hand.”
Cazfest, the third annual music festival held in Caroline’s memory, will take place on Sworders Field in Bishop’s Stortford on July 2 with the likes of The Sugababes, S Club and The Overtones. Tickets are £20 in advance or £25 on the day. For information and bookings, see http://www.cazfest.com/ Or for more stories on Cazfest, visit our music page.
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Win Tickets to see The Sugababes at Cazfest 2nd July links here
Cazfest 2011 - SATURDAY July 2nd 2011
Bigger and better than ever before, Cazfest 2011 will take place on SATURDAY July 2nd 2011 at a new venue, Sworder's Field in the middle of Bishops Stortford, which will make getting there, and getting home afterwards, much, much easier! With a fantastic line up and the usual great choice of food and drink, CRY and Cazfest merchandise and a dance stage you are guaranteed a fabulous day out in support of a truly worthwhile cause.Gates Open at 11:00 am
Festival Finishes at 11:00 pm
See the TICKETS page to order your tickets!
Win a pair of tickets!
Are you aged between 13 and 19 and living in Hertfordshire?You could WIN a pair of tickets to Cazfest by entering Channel Mogo's online competition HERE!
WIN! Tickets to see the Sugababes
The Sugababes are coming to Herts and you and a lucky friend can see them for FREE! They will be playing in Bishop's Stortford at this year's Cazfest on Saturday 2nd July 2011
Cazfest is an all day summer music charity festival in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire. Cazfest, in memory of Caroline Johnstone who died in June 2008, is even bigger and better than before and will also include local and popular bands, and a wide range of other entertainment. Find out all about Cazfest here!
Channelmogo and Cazfest have teamed up to offer you two tickets to see the Sugababes at the Cazfest Festival through a channelmogo facebook competition.To be in with the chance of winning two tickets for this fantastic prize, you must complete these three steps:
- 1.Click like here:
- 2. Sign up to channelmogo's facebook mailing list here.
- 3. Send channelmogo a facebook message (including your full name, town, date of birth) and answer the two statements in your own words:
- a) The best thing about the channelmogo website is….
- b) To improve the channelmogo website, I would…
The winner will be picked for the best entry and contacted on Monday 27th June. We will announce the winner on our channelmogo facebook page. Details you provide will not be published and only used to improve the channelmogo website.
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