THE death of a walker has highlighted the lack of medical facilities for an isolated Powys community, prompting locals to organise a music festival to fundraise for a defibrillator.
The inaugural Heyope Valley Vibes takes place on Saturday, June 29, in the tiny rural community of Heyope, near Knighton.
The mini festival is the brainchild of a group called the Heyope Rotten Crew, a collection of local people who are determined that what happened in the summer of 2022 doesn’t occur again.
“The idea came about particularly because of two local residents, Nicky Deakins and Jo Lewis, who became aware of a gentleman who was in distress locally in the summer of 2022,” said Sarah Griffith, one of the group’s members.
OTHER NEWS:
- Passengers have lucky escape after train strikes tree near Welshpool
- New plans revealed for controversial lorry park at old Laura Ashley factory
- Powys man who boasted he was town's 'biggest drug dealer' jailed
“It happened because of the lack of signal. Sadly, the gentleman died at the scene, which was awful.
“The deficiency in communications may have contributed to the sad death. People were unable to get phone signal and access to a defibrillator (the recommended distance from one is no more than a three-minute walk) so the necessary emergency attention arrived too late.
“I think it highlighted how isolated they were living there. It’s an extremely rural community and there are concerns it would happen again, so the easy thing to do was to raise money for a defibrillator.”
Sarah lives in Knighton and formed the Heyope Rotten Crew committee with Jo, her husband Jonny, Nicky and her husband Gethyn – on whose land the festival is taking place.
The plan is to install a defibrillator at St David's Church in Heyope, which is at the heart of the little community.
The group also has loftier goals – to try and improve the overall phone and Wi-Fi connectivity around the village.
“The defibrillator will cost £1,000; if we can raise that this weekend then happy days,” said Sarah.
“If we raise more than that, then we’ll look into the connectivity issue. The additional plan is to maybe get better reception and connectivity for the community.
“We could get connector masts on the church maybe, just to boost connectivity. The phone reception here in Heyope is shocking.
“It’s a proper community coming together to put it on.”
Gates for Heyope Valley Vibes open at 12.30pm, with the bar open from 1pm and the first artist on stage at 2pm.
There is an exciting line-up of local acts performing, including Adam Olds & Becky Eardley, Aaron Booton, Bethany Davies, Chloe Lewis, MoJam and 13 Rivers. Also, Steve Yeomans, frontman of local rising band Shop Front Heroes, is making an appearance. He’ll be playing guitar and singing a mix of original songs and classy covers.
As well as the bar there’ll be plenty on offer in the way of refreshments, with a barbecue, Ferney PIZZA, homemade cakes, ice cream and teas and coffees, as well as festival glitter and glow, plus temporary tattoos
Tickets are £10 for adults and £4 for children up to 12. Tickets can be purchased at Teme Treasures in Knighton or email heyoperottencrew@gmail.com or visit the Heyope Rotten Crew Facebook page.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here