HUNDREDS of music-lovers, rugby fans and youngsters took advantage of a free festival hosted at Craven Park in Barrow.

Barrow Raiders hosted the fundraising event on Saturday as part of the club's bid to hold more community events to help to secure its future.

Club director Pete Murphy, whose son Daniel also attended the Motown-themed event, said around 300 people had flocked to the ground throughout the day.

"We want to be the sort of club which puts on community events like this," he said.

"We've got to be more than just a rugby club which hosts 14 home games a season because the income from those games isn't enough.

"Events like this help to secure the future of the club and we really need people to back the club.

"Every single penny we take goes towards the club's funds and ultimately the more money we can make the better players and team we can attract."

Alongside the Northern Soul, Motown and Funk hits provided by DJ Alex Morrison the event featured plenty of activities for youngsters including trampolines, a bouncy castle obstacle course, an ice cream van and sweet stall.

Last June Raiders chairman David Sharpe issued a rallying call to rugby fans and the wider Barrow community to back the club after it came within hours of financial ruin.

An eleventh hour cash injection from one of the directors saved the club from being forced to close.

A community icon in the Furness Peninsula was nearly committed to history and yet another part of our culture – what makes us who we are – would have been consigned to memory and eventually forgotten," he said.

“Sometimes sports clubs are more important than the result of a game or a league position.

“They are about heritage, culture and the blood sweat and tears of a great community.

“Barrow Raiders is part of a special cultural heritage we need in our local community but also the ‘ex-pat’ community living elsewhere in the country or overseas to get involved and show the spirit that make our club great.”