A ‘BLAST from the Past’ was on offer recently at Holsworthy Memorial Hall when seven DJ’s came together to help raise money so a racer can compete in the RX2 International Series.

International rallycross driver Dan Rooke, from Holsworthy, needs to raise money to enable him to attend the final legs of the RX2 International Series.

An event was held at the Memorial Hall on October 7, entitled ‘Blast from the Past’, to raise money for Dan’s trip to the next leg of the series to be held in South Africa.

On the night seven DJs from ‘the old days’ came together to provide a spectacular show of classic ‘tunes’. They were John Lawrence, Tony Hart, Patrick Stevens, Reggie Vanstone, Andy Garland, Dave Monkton and Dan Rooke’s father Terry Rooke.

A fundraising auction was also held and the Lions provided a barbecue. The event raised a staggering £5,700 on the night.

Mayor of Holsworthy, Jon Hutchings, said: “I have thought about holding a reunion for past DJ’s for some time. I was tagged in an online post about Dan’s achievements and the need to raise some funds.

“Obviously with his father, Terry Rooke, being a past DJ it made a lot of sense to try and put something together. I contacted a few old friends who had DJ’d around Holsworthy in the past and then it all started to fall into place.

“We pulled together disco equipment from old and new DJs including some light boxes made by Terry 30 years ago. The event was a sell out. It was rather strange, just like the old Memorial Hall discos but 20 to 30 years later!

“A few technical hitches through the night but overall a great night and what a fantastic amount of money raised for a great cause.

“I have had lots of requests from other DJs to take part if we do another night, so maybe next year we will have ‘Blast from the Past II’ — watch this space!”

Wendy Rooke, Dan’s mother, said: "The event went really well, we raised a lot of money and it was well worth doing because we had about 300 people, I would say, turn up and support the event.

"My son is competing in the world rally championship of the RX2 International Series and the last round is in South Africa so we needed to raise enough money to get him out there. We certainly did that, raising just under £6,000. We will be leaving next week."

Wendy said she didn’t get to spend too much time out on the dance floor as she was running the auction but everyone she spoke to seemed to be having a good time. She added: "It was really well supported and everyone who came enjoyed themselves I think. We had lots of different generations there and the DJs were all from different era’s so there was a wide range of music and something for everyone to dance to and enjoy — it really was a great event!"