Rock band Keane and Heringtons celebrate young adult carers

4 September 2018

Young adult carer, Rachel Blackmore, describes her VIP evening out this summer, seeing Sussex superstarsKeaneplay a special comeback gig at Battle Abbey.

Heringtons Solicitors, which is supporting Care for the Carers as its Charity of the Year, sponsored the special outdoor event. The firm kindly offered a young adult carer the opportunity to enjoy backstage VIP treatment, as a rare chance for the carer to relax outside of their caring responsibilities.

Rachel Blackmore, from Hastings, was the lucky young adult carer who was able to attend the event along with her Dad and brother.

Rachel describes her special evening out:

I was privileged to have been asked and offered the opportunity by Care for the Carers and Heringtons Solicitors to go to my first proper outdoor concert – and who better to see than the local band Keane, who I absolutely love!

The staff at Heringtons introduced themselves to me and were all very friendly and welcoming. I felt like such a very important person. I was speaking to a lovely lady called Tracey who works for Heringtons and she was talking about how good she thinks Care for the Carers is. She said she offered to do a sponsored skydive if Care for the Carers was chosen as its Charity of the Year. I think this is amazing and so brave of her!

Support from Marie White

The support act Marie White was absolutely amazing and highly talented. She had such a wide vocal range and was so friendly and confident and had such a great stage presence. She sang all her own original songs whichall had relatable stories behind them. Marie was a local talent chosen to support this one-off concert from Keane. She was absolutely lovely and I had the privilege of talking to her after her performance. My brother and I spoke to her as I wanted to say how talented she was and how well I thought she performed. She was a delight to talk to.

So for the main part of the concert…. Keane, who had not performed properly together in around six years and had had only two days of rehearsals together, were absolutely amazing. They impressed myself and many other fans by singing some old songs, including one they wrote about Bexhill, Battle and Hastings, called Sovereign Light Cafe, as the finale. It was an excellent comeback performance for them – like they’d never stopped working together. The weather, too, was amazing.

Making special memories

I want to say a massive thank you to Care for the Carers and Heringtons. I will always remember this concert. It was one of my favourite evenings I have ever experienced. I especially want to say a massive thank you to Belinda and Tracey from Heringtons for organising and working with the charity to make this possible, and allowing me to share the amazing experience with my dad and brother, who loved it so much and are also so, so, so grateful. I also want to say a massive thank you to Care for the Carers for its Young Adult Carers group, and for helping many people around the county.

Find out more about our Young Adult Carers group

Rachel, up at the front at the gig alongside her brother, Luke, and Belinda from Heringtons

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