A three-day fundraising event to support a popular musician battling cancer is heading to Darlington this month.

Matt Long is a multi-award-winning guitarist, singer and songwriter with blues rock band Catfish. He is also about to marry the love of his life Samantha Leese in a few weeks. He has a lot to live for.

Matt has been battling bowel cancer for just under a year and despite surgery and chemo, his latest scan shows that the cancer has spread into his liver and stomach lining. His cancer team have said although there is the option of trying a different type of chemo, they don’t hold out much hope that it will cure him and is likely, at best, to extend his life a little.

He has almost exhausted the options available on the NHS, but he and his family are not ready to give up on him. They want to give him access to everything that might give him a chance.

The only access to some of this additional treatment is via the private sector and the specialist drug he has now been started on, thanks to contributions raised via a GoFundMe fundraiser, will cost over £5k a month. The family will fund what they can, but a ‘fighting fund’ would help.

Without any treatment, his cancer team have told Matt he won’t make it past the end of this year. The new drugs will help at the very least push that back and hopefully, in the meantime, they will find something to stop it. That has to be worth a shot. The GoFundMe fundraiser has so far raised an incredible £80k which will help fund the additional treatment for a little over a year.

There has also been an auction comprising a wide range of signed memorabilia donated by Matt’s friends in the music business The blues and blues rock music community have really got behind Matt and have also put together five benefit gigs across the country, with more coming on all the time.

One of these events is happening locally in Darlington on Friday 28 June and will feature some big names from the blues and blues rock world - The Wilson Brothers, John Verity (Argent), Rebecca Downes, Andrew Pipe, Emma Wilson and Lorna Fothergill.

Plus the Forum House Band comprising Jamie Pipe, Steve Amadeo, Alex Fawcett and Josh West.

Tickets priced £25 and are available from the Forum in Darlington on 01325 363135.

Also online: https://theforumonline.co.uk/events/fundraising-concert-for-matt-long-catfish/