Coast to Coast - Tea and Toast - final total and summary

This is last year’s event. Read about our 2013 event here!

OK so I know we published the end total but I wanted to get this in writing and thank everyone involved for their help on it this year and just draw a line under the event.

So in total, Coast to Coast: Tea and Toast proved to be a success. It was a long journey starting back in late February from the root yearly concept that myself and one David Leavey organise some fundraising event to pay off some of our yearly sin. Last year for example we cut off most of David’s hair from its long locks and raised €2,500. So this year we wanted to do something a bit more on a grand scale. Partly because it was Goldenplec’s 10th birthday in August too we wanted to fuse music with the event and create something special. I feel we did that.

The concept was long winded but oh so Irish. We would drive across Ireland, from Portmarnock to Achill and back again, and on each stop we would share a cup of tea, a slice of toast and a one song gig with a local band. Quintessentially Irish in it’s approach we hoped that by traversing the country sharing tea and toast we would unearth some musical gems and cast a great spotlight on talent not just centralised in Dublin. We ran a dry run across the country to see what kind of time it would take us, taking along with us our ever eager friend Phil Hollingsworth on the trip. The journey took such a strain on Phil as our driver (I was manning technology and David on motorbike) that he suffered a recurrance of an eye problem and became unable to drive for our official journey. The first thanks has to go to Phil for putting himself through that pain to try help us out.

After much shuffling, Phil’s brother Jack attempted to step up however that didn’t pan out as planned. So Chris Cashen obliged us and provided us with his driving skills for the day. Sean Smyth offered his photography skills and James Hendicott offered us a journalistic eye on proceedings. We set out in my gold Renault Megane (yes the Goldenplec Mobile) and crossed the country. We saw some absolutely brilliant acts and we’d like to thank every one of them for turning out on the day despite repeated delays which meant at times we were getting to them an hour or more after their allotted time.

Fortunately it was a safe journey, David on the motorbike wasn’t the most comfortable but survived, the music across the country was stunning and at times provided the pickup we needed to keep going on the long journey. We got a little giddy with tiredness at one stage and started recording mock Lyons ads, which provided a bit of a laugh. We arrived back to Malahide some three hours late to the Malahide Yacht Club. Several bands had already played as we were so late but we managed to catch the last six of thirteen acts. Despite our lateness we were very lucky to have Jack Hollingsworth, Colm Hewson, Louise Markham, Laura Weafer, Stephen Byrne, Stacey Shine, David Dooley, Ros Madigan, Laura Connolly, Claire Kane and Rachel Ray and two of her friends all giving us a dig out with venue organisation, the creation of tea and toast in the venue for the patrons to enjoy, the co-ordination and organisation of getting the bands in order and ready to play and finally recording the events.

Our tea across the country was provided by Lyons Tea and our bread for our toast was kindly donated by Johnston Mooney and O’Brien and it kept us and our patrons in the Malahide Yacht Club fed and watered on what was of course Good Friday (so no alcohol could be consumed, which for me added to the charm of the event on the day). Our internet connectivity across the country was sponsored by Meteor who provided dongles which kept us connected and uploading video even into the depths of Achill Island. Mindshare and Rachel Ray kindly sourced prizes for a raffle too, so we have to thank them for their kind generosity there.

When the dust settled and the money totted up we had raised €2600 for Down Syndrome Ireland. So we are delighted that our fund-raising efforts are consistent year on year. We are pondering a possible return next year for this event. If you think we should, let us know. We have put together all the videos and embedded them below for simple enjoyment if you would like to relive our journey.

Thanks to all our sponsors, friends, helpers on the days and of course the bands who made this a unique experience.