On Saturday 4 July, a music festival is taking place in Spennymoor to gather money and raise awareness for ‘Dementia UK’. The pub ‘The Ash Tree’ organises a packed day with live music and food trucks from afternoon to late evening. For the pub owners Lauren Lowes and Alana Scaife it’s a very personal event as, one of their family members was diagnosed with dementia.
Last year ‘The Ash Tree’ hosted their first charity event, like co-owner Lauren Lowes says: “We had one tribute band because our friend wanted to raise money for cancer research. It was a brilliant day, which gave us the idea.” Lauren Lowes runs the pub together with Alana Scaife. Recently both started to organise their own music festival, the ‘Ashfest’. On Saturday, 4 July, the festival will take place at their pub in Tudhoe Grange, Spennymoor. The occasion for this event: Lauren and Alana want to raise money for ‘Dementia UK’, a UK-registered charity that provides “free advice, support and understanding to help families care for their loved one,” like the organisation says itself.
Lauren and Alana plan on a whole day of live music, good food and a lot of donations. The entry will be completely free for everyone therefore “donations are welcome,” states Lauren – Alana adds: “Obviously everything goes to ‘Dementia UK’.” Behind their motivation to create such a big event for the small venue lies a personal history of the illness, which makes it “quite emotional,” for both.
For their father and for anyone
“We wanted to do it for dementia because our father’s got Lewy body dementia.” Lauren continues: “It’s the lack of knowledge. None of us in the family knew anything about it. And I think it was just a massive shock when he was diagnosed.” The family learned more about dementia step by step, but they didn’t feel prepared for what was to come: “We honestly thought it was just a little bit like memory loss. But it completely robs that person of everything – independence, physical abilities, general day-to-day things.” The whole family felt the impact of the diagnosis directly, reports Laura: “Every single day you lose a little bit more of that person to the point – who is it?”
Out of their experiences Lauren and Alana decided to try making a change for others. They especially want to support better information programs. For them it’s about informing people about the effects dementia has on the affected person but also on the surroundings. Therefore, they support ‘Dementia UK’, which is working on a big variety of services. Adding to the donations and funding, people of ‘Appleton Lodge’ will directly join the festival on Saturday. ‘Appleton Lodge’ is an assisted living facility in Spennymoor that helps people with dementia to live independently before they reach a state where they need nursing care.
A packed line-up
Lauren and Alana planned the event for the whole family: “There’s going to be an outside stage out there with acts lined up all day from 3:30,” Lauren says. Headline acts include former The Voice winner Olivia Irvin and Oasis tribute band “Mad Ferret”. Such an impressive line-up is only possible because many of the artists chose to perform for less than half of their usual fee. In total, six acts are set to take the stage, keeping visitors “up on their dancing feet”, as they put it.
The entertainment programme will also include food trucks and outdoor bars, giving visitors plenty of opportunities to enjoy the day beyond the music. Alana is already expecting a large turnout: “So yeah, it’s gonna be a busy day, but it’ll be a good family fun day.” Last year’s event gave them reason to be optimistic. The turnout was so high that the pub quickly ran out of space: “People brought picnic blankets and deck chairs to sit on the grass. They’re welcome to do that this year as well,” Lauren adds.
Ultimately, the bigger the crowd, the greater the impact. “It’s about raising some funds,” Lauren says. However, raising awareness for dementia matters just as much to them: “We want to get more information out there for people because it doesn’t get the highlight that it needs.”
Everything summed up
Date: Saturday, July 4th 2026, from 3:30pm
Location: The Ash Tree, Carr Ln, Spennymoor DL16 6XU
Price: free – donations welcome
Charity: Dementia UK
Contact: info[.]ashtreespennymoor[@]gmail[.]com
Anton Weineck
Mona Schulze
Spennymoor's local community newspaper.
