It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to see an artist of Corinne Bailey Rae’s calibre in the small Cotswold town of Stroud, but it’s even rarer to see such an artist in an almost tucked away village just outside.

That being said, Brimscombe is becoming quite the place to not just live in but to socialise and more. With stunning walks alongside the canal and beyond, this quaint village also offers a wonderful variety of places to drop in for food and drink. The Long Table, however is quite easily the heart of the community! Located at Brimscombe Mills, The Long Table is a charity which is part of The Grace Network. Their aim is to make locally sourced and lovingly prepared food available to everyone, regardless of their social or financial background.

In 2023 they made 32,696 meals, which is huge as is the first year The Long Table have been in their new location at the mill. This included 2,376 meals that people generously paid forward for others in the community, 3,053 paid forward meals that locals claimed when they needed them. The average cost of those meals were £7.43. The food is always made freshly cooked with locally sourced ingredients and is run on as pay-as-you-can. Read more about The Long Table and what they do here.

Despite The Long Table being a well worthy charity in itself, the special event featuring Corinne Bailey Rae was for a different cause entirely. We have already spoken of community and this event showed just how community come together especially for something so important.

This event was about a local man named Joseph. A man who is part of the The Long Table family and also a friend of Corinne Bailey Rae.

(As stated on their Go Fund Me page) Sadly, after waking up one morning barely able to move his leg, a visit to the hospital and an MRI scan led to a discovery of a brain tumour and a diagnosis of grade IV Astrocytoma.

After enduring the standard chemo and radiotherapy, and surgery to remove a tumour on the brain, the over-stretched NHS have already exhausted all their means of extending Joseph’s life. But there is very real hope, and no one is giving up. Immunotherapy is a ground-breaking treatment recommended by Care Oncology Clinic and—if accessed—could alter the course of this young man’s life. This brand-new approach ‘teaches’ the immune system to seek out and challenge cancer cells; it greatly improves survival outcomes, especially in younger and otherwise healthy people—someone just like Joseph.

Next stop: Germany. Unfortunately, Immunotherapy isn’t available in the UK, and Germany is one of the few countries with approved bio-medical centres offering the private,tailor-made treatment. Embarking on this life-saving trip will be expensive, so if you can, we ask you to chip in and make sure that Joseph can receive the specialist help he desperately needs. Your contribution may be a profound offering of time — for Joseph to spend with his young family who love him dearly.

As a close friend to the family, Corinne Bailey Rae kindly offered her time to perform an incredibly special performance for the local community to get together and raise as much money as they could to reach the £50,000 target to help Joseph get this treatment. You can read more about the story and help Joseph by donating here!

The evening commenced at 6.30pm where event goers could enjoy music from a DJ and eat a delicious pay-as-you-can meal! The venue was set up beautifully and as soon as you walked in, you could feel the community spirit which immediately felt warm despite the bitter cold that we had all come in from!

A sold out show, it didn’t feel as such! I mean that in a good way! The audience were respectful and it was clear people were there to soak up all of what the evening had to offer. The crowd was family friendly with many children who were safe to roam freely and were allowed space at the front of the stage by all whom knew they may have restricted views elsewhere.

Arriving on stage promptly at 7.30pm, Corinne was joined by her band members Mikey Wilson on Drums and Steve Brown on keys.

Within moments, Corinne and her band had the ability to make you feel at home and it was as if they were part of the Brimscombe/Long Table family – in a way, I guess they are now!

Despite the sadness of the evenings cause, Corinne and her band made sure they brought good times to the stage whilst also focusing on the aim itself. Corinne introduced herself and the charity and how she knew the family and what the funds were being raised for. At one point in the evening she even brought Joseph to the stage to share his story and even when talking about it himself, he beamed with positivity and warmth.

Bailey Rae’s vocals were sensational live. Playing an acoustic set of just over an hour, the entire set was perfection. Bringing elements of Soul, Blues and other blended genres, Mikey and Steve were a huge part of what made the set so special, not just Corinne. Together the trio bounced off each other’s talents and Mikey’s drum skills and Steve’s Key playing were throughly enjoyed by the crowd! Corinne shared their experience of enjoying the food at The Long Table earlier that day! Making a joke of how the drummer Mikey is very much a meat eater and even said “it won’t be vegan food will it?” She explained how he devoured up the lentils and loved every bit of his meal.

The set was generous and full of well loved songs such as Been To The Moon, Breathless, Till It Happens To You, Like a Star, Put Your Records On, Paris Nights/New York Mornings and Trouble Sleeping. Put Your Records On was certainly a memorable moment that many won’t forget. Offering the chance for an audience member to join her on stage for the chorus, it then turned into an actual chorus of fans joining her on stage which was very sweet! The crowd not on stage joined in too. Corinne has such a great stage presence and laughs with her audience often!

Each song played was even more fabulous live than the studio version. The instrumental segments and vocal improvisations were sublime. A town full of true music lovers, the audience took in every note played and every vocal sung! Fans sang along, clapped in rhythm, danced and simply just enjoyed every minute.

The set closed with the brilliant and more rock infused The Skies Will Break. A great song to end the night with, the song was lengthier live with stunning instrumental arrangements and great audience participation moments!

Corinne Bailey Rae and her band gave us a phenomenal, radiant and soulful evening full of sensational music, stunning vocals and a warm and homely environment which was all for a well-worthy cause.

Whether you are a fan of Corinne Bailey Rae or not, whether you know the family that the event was in aid of or not, if you can spare a donation it would be greatly appreciated! Donate here.

We look forward to more events at The Long Table and of course more importantly, we hope that Joseph’s goal is met and we wish Joseph and his family all the best!