Mods scoot into town for 14-hour charity party night reports the Stoke Sentinel

MODS were dancing through the night as part of a nationwide charity event this weekend.

The Gardeners Retreat, on Boothen Green in Stoke, was taken over by fans of the subculture as part of Mods on the March, a UK-wide fund-raising celebration for the Teenage Cancer Trust. 

Fans of bands such as The Jam and The Who donned their finest outfits and headed for the 14-hour party, which saw seven bands banging out classic hits and also included a charity auction of mod memorabilia. 

Stan Bridge, a mod for more than 40 years, helped to organise the Mods on the March fund-raiser, which was the first event for the national campaign ever held in Stoke-on-Trent. 

The 53-year-old, of Union Street in Hanley, said: "It's one of the big national things that goes on, and when I noticed we'd never had one in the Potteries before I thought it would be great if we could bring it here. 

"There's a massive mod following around here, and I wanted us to be represented, so I jumped at the chance to do something here. 

"It's a big Stoke City pub, but as they didn't have a match on this weeke it was the perfect time to do it. 

"It's taken four or five months to plan everything, so we'd like to raise a lot of money." 

Stan hopes the weekend will have raised over £1,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. He said he was partly inspired to bring in a big total following his own cancer scare. 

Shortly before Christmas a routine dental appointment led to the discovery of a lump in his mouth, which he had removed last week. 

Stan added: "Finding the lump made the whole thing much more relevant to me. We've had a lot of support, and we've a lot of people to thank." 

Nottingham-based mod veteran Mick Keetley, aged 50, helped Stan to put on the event. 

He said: "Everyone comes here for the music, but there's real support for the charity side of things too. 

"The mod community is very close, we all like to come and help each other out." 

Ian McIntosh, aged 37, has been running The Gardeners Retreat for more than three years, and said he was delighted the pub hosted the first-ever Mods on the March event in the Potteries. 

He said: "Everyone has been a big help, right from the bands coming here and playing for free to all the people who've donated things for the auction. People have been really generous, and it's good to get everyone together. 

"The pub has got a lot of history of being a live music venue in Stoke, it's something we like to put on for everyone. 

"A lot of the music I like is quite mod-orientated too, so it's really good for me to have this event on here. I know we can make this a big success."