Well, we’re almost there. #WSO2016 has taken up most of the last few months and, against all the odds, I think we might just have managed to fulfill our promise of making it bigger, bolder and better than last year.

We have 261 confirmed events as of tonight, and there’s everything from busking choirs to art auctions and back again; music from every genre; poetry and spoken word; comedy; film nights; bake-offs; battle of the bands contests; you name it and we probably go it. Not only that but the number of causes our events are helping is incredible, from food banks and homeless shelters to crisis centres for victims of domestic abuse and beyond. The imagination and willingness of WSO organisers up and down the land is breathtaking.

Then there’s the posters! They just keep getting better and better!

My own personal WSO week is, well, hectic. I’ll be playing the following gigs:

THURSDAY OCTOBER 6TH
BILLINGHAM– St. Aiden’s Church
HARTLEPOOL– Nursery Inn (with TV Smith)

FRIDAY OCTOBER 7TH
HEBDEN BRIDGE– Trades Club

SATURDAY OCTOBER 8TH
SCARBOROUGH– The Filling Station
BARNSLEY– Polish Club
STAINFORTH– Pit Club

SUNDAY OCTOBER 9TH
LIVERPOOL– Brink

Be good to see you out there!

And of course the icing on the cake was not only Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell tweeting about us, but Jeremy Corbyn wearing one of our badges the day he was re-elected Labour leader. Stunning.

Lot of water must pass under the bridge before we can declare #WSO2016 a success, but for now I want to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who has pitched in with organising, sharing, retweeting, offers of help, agreeing to play and all-round enthusiasm. You make WSO such a joy  to be involved with and we most definitely could not do it without you.

I think WE SHALL OVERCOME represents the very best of what we are as people- the generosity, the selflessness, the willingness to roll up our sleeves and get stuck in, and the sort of caring and compassion the right wing press would have you believe has disappeared from the modern world.

Don’t believe them. We are the silent majority and our actions speak loudest of all.

Bring it on.