Fife band's high school gig raises £1200 for charity

Shambolics played an acoustic set at Kirkcaldy High School at the end of term in aid of Kirkcaldy Foodbank.

The event, which proved popular with the school community, heralded the start of the summer break and the retiral of headteacher Derek Allan after a decade at the helm.

This week, members of the band visited Kirkcaldy Foodbank to hand over a cheque for £1200 which was raised on the day of the school gig and through an online donation page.

Darren Forbes, vocalist and guitarist, expressed his thanks to all those who generously donated both at the gig itself and online.

He said: “I’m really pleased with the amount of donations from everyone for our Kirkcaldy foodbank fundraiser.

"I know it’s tough times for everyone with the cost of living crisis which is going on right now so I’m surprised that we surpassed our £1k target, but delighted that the foodbank will have a big boost in funds to keep it running.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to do the same again at the end of the year.”

Each year Shambolics come back to Fife to play a gig to raise funds for the charity, however over the last few years the Covid pandemic has stopped that from happening.

They were delighted to be able to get back on stage to play live again for the cause.

Kirkcaldy Foodbank has reported in recent months that more families than ever are going hungry and living in poverty because of the cost-of-living crisis, and the number of people using their service is increasing.

Shambolics were formed in 2018 by Lewis McDonald, Darren Forbes, Ben Sharp, Jake Bain and Scotty Paws, and were cited by music mogul Alan Mcgee as ‘one of the great Scottish bands’.

He signed them to his Creation23 label in 2019 and they released three singles under the label.

During the pandemic they showcased a series of classic cover versions online and have since relocated to Glasgow and are releasing tracks under their own Eggman Records label.