Charity festival in memory of ‘superhero’ Josh
THE parents of a little boy whose brave fight against cancer touched the hearts of thousands are holding a festival in his memory.
Joshua McCormack, died in January 2017, aged five, 15 months after being diagnosed with a rare malignant brain tumour.
He had been dubbed a ‘superhero’ by thousands of people around the world who followed his fight with illness on Facebook.
At his funeral hundreds of mourners lined the streets to pay tribute as Darth Vader and a collection of stormtroopers led Josh’s cortege in his home town of Whitworth.
Now his parents Nicola and Kevin are organising a charity festival dubbed JoshFest - set to take place at the Riverside in Whitworth on May 6, the day before Josh’s birthday. A string of acts have been confirmed to perform, including Whitworth Choir and top tribute act The Ambassadors.
Dave Sweetmore, club DJ at Rochdale AFC, is also hosting the evening.
Writing on the ‘Josh McCormack - in loving memory’ Facebook page Nicola said the two charities set to benefit from the festival were Jolly Josh, a children’s playgroup set up by schoolteacher Carole Kelly, of Wardle, in memory of his son Josh, who was just 15-months-old when died in August 2017 from a mitochondrial disease, and Friends of Rosie, a charity launched almost 25 years ago to fund children’s cancer research following the death of five-year-old Rosie Larkin, from Bowdon, in 1991.
Nicola added: “The festival is to celebrate Joshua’s life and to honour his bravery and courage by raising vital funds for local children’s charities.
“These are both fantastic local causes and close to our hearts.
“This is promised to be a fantastic event.
“Let’s make the JoshFest a charitable success so that we can make it a yearly community event and more local charities can benefit.”
Tickets, priced £10, are available from the Riverside, Whitworth Workers Club, Whitworth Deli Bar, the Halfway House or by calling Sarah on 07455 167707.