“Gigola” Fundraising Event In Memory Of Nicola Hebden | Held On 20th August 2022

The event was called “Gigola” in memory of my beautiful little sister Nicola Hebden, who sadly passed away on the 17th of August 2021 at the age of 33 after developing FND as a result of the sudden and tragic loss of our mother on the 3rd of June 2020. Nicola was a totally selfless pillar of the community, working for many years in the elderly home care industry before landing a job at the British Red Cross, where she made a huge difference to the lives of vulnerable adults and the elderly in the Welwyn Hatfield and surrounding areas. She absolutely loved live music and we would regularly attend festivals and gigs together with our friends, hence the music festival idea and the name “Gigola”.

The day itself was a family music festival of sorts, running from early afternoon well into the evening, with a variety of live musicians playing throughout the day and night, we also had a bouncy castle, soft play and some giant garden games outside for the kids which meant a lot of families showed up for the whole day which was amazing!

We also had a prize raffle which we managed to sell an entire book of 1,000 raffle tickets for with some great prizes on offer, we even had people donating additional prizes for the cause on the day which was brilliant. My girlfriend is a very talented artist and lent her skills to a facepainting stall as well as the timeless classic “guess how many sweets are in the jar”.

My Dad and I ran a BBQ in the afternoon, we didn’t charge for the food but instead asked for donations which worked really well, you’ll be surprised how much value someone that’s had a few pints will put on a burger / hotdog! 

Written by Scott, Nicola’s brother