A FOLK club celebrating 60 years of music is to host one of 200 events under the ‘We Shall Overcome’ banner across the UK this week.

Bradford’s Topic Folk Club is joining the anti-austerity programme to show its solidarity with the cause.

One of the gig organisers at The Topic, Anthony Charnock said: “We Shall Overcome is part of an anti-austerity movement but it is also very much pro-community and aligns very closely to the ethos of the Topic which has always been close to the heart of Bradford.”

He said the night at Glyde House, Glydegate, opposite the city’s ice rink, from 8.15pm on Thursday would give a chance for anyone to attend the Topic to sing a song, play a tune or just listen to the performances. Instead of paying to get into the gig, people are being invited to bring a food donation or make a money donation, no matter how small, to the Bradford Metropolitan Food Bank.

Mr Charnock said the gig would be a community effort led by musicians and music promoters who want to do something practical to help people hit hard by homelessness and poverty.

Two other We Shall Overcome events will be held in Bradford City Centre on Saturday, October 8. One will be at Glyde House and the other at the 1 in 12 Club on Albion Street

The Glyde House event, starting at 1.30pm, is being organised by Laura Doyle with nine musicians lined up so far to perform at the festival.

The We Shall Overcome movement began last year when Ms Doyle teamed up with guitarist Simon Mansfield, from Thornton, to organise the festival, after a friend of Mr Mansfield came up with the idea of a nationwide series of anti-austerity concerts.

What started as a small idea ballooned into more than 200 festivals taking place across the UK and even in Canada and the US, with thousands of singers, musicians and bands taking part.

Keith Thomson, treasurer of Bradford Metropolitan Food Bank, said he was delighted the festival had chosen to support his charity once again. He said: “I can’t quite remember the exact figure, but the concert raised a substantial amount for us last year and we are delighted they have decided to support us again this year.

“As demand for food banks continues to grow, we rely on small donations from a number of people, and the people of Bradford are really good at supporting us, but these big events make a big difference."

To get more information on The Topic go to topicfc.nawaller.com or to see the full UK gig listing for We Shall Overcome, visit weshallovercomeweekend.com