DORCHESTER’S Borough Gardens will be filled with the sounds of music as people come together for another fundraiser in memory of a larger than life character.

Musicians will be turning out in force for the Help A Friend Fundraiser inspired by Steve Charles, who died of throat cancer in June last year.

The event on Sunday will also remember county town fundraiser Julian Slade, who died from myeloid leukaemia.

Organiser Jack Daniels was involved in setting up the Help A Friend Fund when friend Steve was battling his deadly disease.

The funds raised in Steve’s memory will now go to help others in a similar situation.

Jack said: “Since Steve’s death we have helped one person who had cancer and needed to get up to Poole every day for eight weeks for treatment and we paid for that.

“We also want more people to hear about us so this event is more of an awareness day as well as a fundraiser.”

Among the musical acts at the Borough Gardens event, which runs from noon till around 7pm, will be the Dinnerladies, Gordon’s Alive, Jigsaw, a Bob Dylan tribute act, the Steve Wilson band, No Country for Old Men and Red Rooster blues band.

Jack said it was an eclectic mix that would offer something for everyone.

He said: “The whole idea is to make it an event for the whole family really and the range of music reflects that.”

Since Steve’s death events in his memory have included a similar event at the Borough Gardens last year, which Jack said was a success despite being hit by bad weather, and a Christmas Party at the Colliton Club – which had to be rearranged to January.

Jack said: “The plan is we will continue to do one event at Christmas and one do in the summer.

“Let’s hope we get better weather this year.”