Headline sponsor for Salt and Tar's Music Weekender calls for community to 'come together'

Welsh singing legend Tom Jones will top the bill at Salt and Tar’s Music Weekender this month.

In a show of support for the local community, boss of window and door manufacturer Warwick North West, Greg Johnson, is urging the local community to “come together”.

Named as the music festival’s headline sponsor, Warwick North West is a family firm that has been based in Bootle for more than two decades and employs around 120 people. It is a £12m-turnover business that produces high quality windows and doors for homebuilders.

Also performing will be legendary rockers Status Quo and local favourites Red Rum Club. The festival will take place over three days from Thursday, August 15 – Sunday, August 18, at the Salt and Tar venue at Bootle Strand, next to the canal.

Managing director Greg Johnson says he and his team are fully committed to the area and are proud to sponsor the Music Weekender.

And he believes the event has now taken on a bigger significance after the events of the past week or so that have shocked Merseyside and the rest of the UK.

Three children – Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar – died in a horrific stabbing incident in Southport on Monday, July 29. Axel Rudakubana will stand trial for their murder early next year.

“There has perhaps never been a more pertinent need for community cohesion,” said Greg.

“Since that dreadful event just over a week ago, there has been a huge outpouring of help and support from residents of Southport and the wider community, and it has been heartening to see some tremendous examples of ordinary people pulling together.

“That spirit of community is at the heart of what Sefton Council is looking to achieve in Bootle with its regeneration of The Strand. Much work has been done already and the Music Weekender gives us all a chance to come together and celebrate that.

“At Warwick we see ourselves as very much integral to the community. Many of our team is drawn from the local area and we also work with charities to give a second chance to people who have had a tough start in life.

“This festival is an opportunity for everyone who cares about Bootle to show what an amazing community this is. And who doesn’t want to see the legend that is Tom Jones perform live in the centre of our town?”

“If all the different elements of areas such as Bootle come together then they become greater than the sum of their parts. We are stronger together.

Music Weekender 2023. Credit: Salt and Tar

Following the Music Weekender Sefton Council will push on with the transformation of The Strand shopping centre which will be home to new leisure, education and health services.

Cllr Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Economy and Skills, added: “We have high ambitions for the future of Bootle and we’re already seeing a positive impact from the changes that are taking place.

“Across the country, we are seeing new demands for town centres. We’re listening to the needs of the community and are expanding the offer available in Bootle Strand.

“Not only will residents and visitors be able to come and shop, but they’ll be able to visit new education, health and leisure services at the same time. As part of our plans, we’ve opened up Salt and Tar, a brand new events space in the heart of Bootle.

“Within its first year we saw people travelling from as far afield as France and Australia for our Music Weekender. We’ve opened the space up to community groups and supported our young people in partnership with the Teenage Market.

“Salt and Tar has been highly praised by Sefton residents and our visitors and we have no plans to stop now. This year, Sir Tom Jones and Status Quo will join venue ambassadors Red Rum Club playing to thousands of people across a single weekend.

“The venue is just a taste of what’s to come in Bootle in the future.”

Sound City, well known for its large-scale music events in Liverpool, is working with Sefton Council as a delivery partner for live sound, production and marketing for the Salt and Tar Music Weekender.

Becky Ayres, managing director at Sound City, also said: “We are so excited to be working with Sefton Council to bring world class live music to Bootle canal side for a second, bigger, better year.

“It’s all made possible through the incredible support of our sponsors and partners, especially local businesses completely committed to the regeneration of Bootle and a bright future for the town.

“We’re proud to welcome Warwick North West as the headline sponsor of the Salt and Tar Music Weekender 2024 for what we hope will be the start of a long relationship.”

To further demonstrate Greg’s commitment to charity and community, he has also taken on a role as a business ambassador for Alder Hey Children’s Charity.

A fundraiser for the victims of the Southport knife attack, set up by fans of Taylor Swift, Cristina Jones and Holly Goldring, in partnership with Alder Hey Children’s Charity, has raised more than £370,000.

Sound City have also set up a donation page with the funds going to Alder Hey. You can donate to the fundraiser HERE.

Donations will be used to support the victims, families, first responders and clinicians, and moving forward the wider Southport community and those directly impacted by the tragedy.

Immediate and ongoing support has been offered to the families under the care of Alder Hey, and at other hospitals in the region. Funeral costs will be covered by the funds raised by the JustGiving Appeal, as required.

Through Greg’s close association, there will be opportunities across the four days for festival-goers to donate.