The Sophie Lancaster Foundation are offering free training to North Yorkshire teachers, as part of their partnership with Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival. Online sessions will be delivered to school staff in the region as part of the Foundation’s mission to stamp out prejudice, hatred and intolerance everywhere.

The Sophie Lancaster Foundation was set up in 2007 by Sylvia Lancaster, following the brutal murder of her daughter in an unprovoked gang attack. Sophie was a goth and was attacked simply for the way she looked; the judge at her murder trial recognised the vicious and violent assault for what it was – a hate crime. The Foundation was established to educate people that difference is something to be celebrated, not feared, and challenge the inaccurate stereotyping and demonisation of alternative sub-cultures.

Adam Lancaster, spokesperson for the Foundation and Sophie’s brother, commented:

“Whitby is such a special place for us to visit and the Goth community have always held the Foundation close to their hearts. TOMORROW’S GHOSTS FESTIVAL is a wonderful celebration of the music, fashion and culture that makes the subgenre so unique and beautiful. As part of our commitment to attending the festival, we wanted an opportunity to share the work we do in Sophie’s name to celebrate difference and raise awareness about hate crime. How people react to difference is often the root of bullying and it can be difficult to know how to start meaningful conversations on these issues in a school setting. Our educational resources have been developed to increase empathy and help students think again about their attitudes to people who are different from them. We will be delighted to be able to share our story with teachers in the region and outline our experience of delivering these resources in school.”

Teachers can join a free presentation online, and schools interested in joining a session should email: [email protected] for more information and to register.

Richard Maides, Creative Director for Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival added:

“Our relationship with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation is very important to us. We stressed from day one of our partnership that we did not simply want this to a relationship based just on a branding exercise. Our collective aim is to promote the positive aims of the Foundation and ultimately educate society raising awareness around issues of hate crime and tolerance. We hope that as many teachers and school staff will be able to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity offered by the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and consequently improve people’s lives. “

Ghostwriter Consultancy & Events are delighted to announce the appointment of a General Venue Business Manager to support the company’s growth of its venue partnerships, events and consultancy business.

Ade Dovey has been appointed as General Venue Business Manager with direct responsibility for Marble Factory (1,350) in Bristol and to support the company’s venue estate and wider projects.

ABOUT ADE DOVEY

Director of Events Richard Maides said, “We are delighted to announce that Ade Dovey will be joining us at Ghostwriter. He brings considerable experience from his previous key operational and programming roles in the industry. Being a respected promoter and a first-class creative venue manager Ade is a welcome addition to our team. His success evolving unique venue spaces such as The Deaf Institute, Gorilla and The Albert Hall in Manchester demonstrated to us that he was the perfect fit for our aims in Bristol.

Dovey will lead on the Marble Factory whilst also contributing to the wider business.

The Marble Factory has enjoyed significant success since the inception of our partnership with the venue owners in 2020, quickly establishing itself as a regular stop off on the UK touring circuit. Moving forward our focus is to diversify the venue’s programme with exciting new events and client partnerships, whilst continuing to improve our support for promoters and artists who choose to utilise the venue.

Following significant investment in the venue with enhanced production and backstage facilities we will now adopt a flexible approach in terms of rentals and use of space. We believe that the appointment of Ade will help us move the business forward in a number of areas.”

Ghostwriter Consultancy and Events continue their expansion with the launch of Pink Dot; a new independent national promoting division.

Pink Dot launches with 16 shows already confirmed in five regions, with expansion nationwide coming throughout summer and beyond.

Pink Dot are fully committed to their goals of promoting concerts nationally, alongside large‐scale outdoor events and annual bespoke festivals.

Carl Bathgate, Commercial Director of Ghostwriter comments, “We are extremely excited to announce the launch of Pink Dot. Our team continues to expand with the recent appointments of Craig McVeigh and Molly Doyle joining Richard Maides and myself as we seek to develop emerging artists while continuing to work with household names. We aim to deliver a wide and diverse variety of events scaling from 100 to 25,000 capacity. We recognise the challenges presented by the current economic climate but feel that there will always be a place for well marketed and delivered events as Live Music continues to be a significant part of the UK’s social life and is deeply ingrained in our culture.”

Craig McVeigh, Promoter, added, “In a career spanning over a decade as an independent promoter, I have always taken pride in providing a supportive and inclusive environment for our artists to develop, and very much enjoy working closely with their teams to provide a custom strategy to enable them to grow and succeed. Within the Ghostwriter family, I have the support to continue this journey and match the ambition of the artists aided by our innovative marketing, PR and digital strategy development.”

“We have an extremely experienced team who will ensure all our events are delivered to a high standard whether they be established artists performing at our Live After Racing series, 100 capacity shows in a grassroots venue, new annual metropolitan festivals or large‐scale outdoor events.”

About Pink Dot

Website: https://www.pinkdotlive.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pinkdotlive
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pinkdotlive
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pinkdotlive/

Back in black and before you know it…TOMORROW’S GHOSTS FESTIVAL has confirmed its Spring Gathering for Whitby

Following an exceptional demand for tickets for the upcoming Halloween event in 2022, Whitby’s premier Goth music led festival is delighted to confirm the return of its ‘Spring Gathering’. Taking over the Whitby Pavilion – Friday 28th & Saturday 29th April 2023 – it will be the first such seasonal offering for over 4 years.

A true celebration of all things Gothic, Tomorrow’s Ghosts invites you back to the home of Dracula for a darkly exhilarating weekend of alternative music and culture. With an international line-up that caters to a broad range of sub-genres and tastes, today the festival is very pleased to announce its 2023 programme – and there’s plenty to get your teeth into…

In its first announcement, Tomorrow’s Ghost’s is over the moon to lock-in an exclusive Friday headline appearance from the cult darkwave visionaries Cold Cave, who fifteen years into their career have established themselves as long-running luminaries of the underground and worthy headliners for any connoisseur of sonic carnage. Sublime supporting sets across the evening will also come from Leeds’ legendary goth-rock originals The Rose of Avalanche and UK-Irish post/punk acolytes Siberia. Fans should keep their eyes peeled for the announcement of some Very Special Guests to be confirmed in the coming weeks too…

Following up on the Saturday night, Yorkshire-formed titans New Model Army will be continuing the celebrations for their 40th Anniversary in seismic style. Earlier in the night, expect a *very special guest* slot from Lebanon Hanover, with the shadowy British-German duo bringing their evocative darkwave sounds out to play for this very rare UK appearance. Adding to what is an excellent bill the Saturday night is stacked with sizable supporting slots from Mancunian industrialists in ascendance IST IST, plus a theatrical set from revived gothic rock devotees The Nosferatu, who will perform as *Special Guests* and open the Saturday night event.

As in previous years, Tomorrow’s Ghosts will also be offering choice club nights into the early hours. No strangers to the Whitby crowds, Leeds living legends Carpe Noctum and the supernaturally talented scousers Planet X will be resurrecting goth classics for the afterdark masses on Friday & Saturday respectively.

As with the 2022 edition, the Tomorrow’s Ghosts festival will be partnering with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. A charity committed to stamping out prejudice, hatred and intolerance everywhere, the ideals of the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and Tomorrow’s Ghosts couldn’t be any closer aligned.