By SUJ – Southampton Ukulele Jam.
Hello, we’re Southampton Ukulele Jam! Remember us?
Back in August we embarked on a challenge: to set a UK record for the longest jam a jam has ever jammed, whilst raising as much money we could for four Southampton charities.
We played our ukuleles, non-stop, for 30 hours in the magnificent God’s House Tower, and we brought In Common along for the ride as our official media partner to help spread the word.
Although the “Uke-athon” itself finished months ago, we still had one final loose end to tie up…
At our annual Christmas Cabaret, this December, we presented each of our chosen charities (No Limits, Yellow Door, The Society of St James and Mountbatten Hampshire) with a ‘big cheque’ for £3,333.59!
The Society of St James also received an additional donation of £2,000 from Greggs as part of the UKe-athon. This brings our final donation total to an astonishing £15,334.34!
It was always going to be a highly emotional affair. After all the effort that had gone into the planning, the tears started pretty early into the event, first flowing when we hit £4,000 raised.
Some of us were still crying a week later. Part of this was, of course, due to being exceptionally tired. But mainly it was down to being constantly reminded of what a truly special thing Southampton Ukulele Jam is for an entire weekend.
The Jam at its core is about community: we bring together people from all walks of life and use the power of music to spread joy and happiness.
At a time when the world desperately needs more love and kindness, being locked in a building full of the stuff was at times completely overwhelming!
We were reminded not only of the strong bonds we have within the jam, but also of the people who have come and gone who have helped shape the jam into what it is: the weekend was not only a chance for us to give back to the wider Southampton community, but to celebrate Southampton Ukulele Jam for everything it is, was, and shall be.
But really this is only the beginning. The idea was always to set a record for other ukulele groups to try and beat. There are proper rules on our website for you to follow if your own jam wants to have a go at beating our time (and maybe raising even more money than we did!).
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much to everyone who took part in this very special weekend in some way. Whether you came down to see us in God’s House Tower, watched some (or all!) of the live stream, read one of our In Common articles or just heard about what we were doing and gave us some money.
Every person, every donation and every message contributed to making it 30 hours that we will never forget Together as a community, we have all made a real difference to the lives of some of Southampton’s most vulnerable people, all through the power of playing good music, moderately well on tiny toy instruments trying to make the world a tiny bit better.
With thanks to all who helped, and worked, to make this happen and wishing everyone a healthy, safe, and happy 2026.
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Related stories:
Southampton Ukulele Jam vs The UKe-athon – charity fundraiser smashes target
Southampton charities to get a boost from ukulele record attempt
Local music group attempt to set a UK record for the longest ukulele jam