THE foundation set up as a legacy to Viola Beach guitarist River Reeves has closed seven years after the tragedy when the band members and their manager died in a car accident while on tour in Sweden.
The announcement was made on the facebook page of the River Reeves Foundation by his parents Sharon and Ben Dunne, yesterday, February 13th, the 7th anniversary of the tragedy.
But while the River Reeves Foundation is closing “after achieving so much in such a short time,” the Vintage Viola premises at Golden Square will continue as a legacy project for the boys.
After seven years of creating alternate futures in River’s name and paying tribute to all of the Viola Beach men – River Reeves, Kris Leonard, Tomas Lowe, Jack Dakin, and their manager Craig Tarry – we have decided to draw the River Reeves Foundation to a timely close.
We have achieved so much in such a short space of time including;
* Delivering RivFest ’16, ’17, ’18, ’19 and ’21
* Awarding over £70k in bursaries to local talented creatives
* Creation and expansion of our shop Vintage Viola into a 10,000 sq/ft community hub in the heart of the town
* Warrington Schools Arts’ Festival during COVID which showcased the town’s artistic talent during a difficult time for all of us
* Riv’s Runners fundraising events
* Riv’s Riders – two epic challenges including a Penzance to Warrington cycle raising over £15,000 in 2016
* Our Rainbow Ball events
* Prominence – providing prom dresses and suits to young people who may struggle to meet the costs of attending their school prom
* RRF supporting RNCM’s Young Artists with 50 young people currently enrolled on the programme
* Supporting TAGS – Warrington’s LGBTQ+ youth group
Vintage_Viola has grown beyond belief and will continue as a legacy project for the boys – please watch this space for news on this. Unfortunately, RivFest Weekender will no longer be taking place, and more information will be published on officialrivfest.com and the RivFest social media in due course.
Thank you everyone from Warrington and beyond that has helped us pay such fitting tributes to those beautiful young men we lost some 7 years ago today.
Peace and love to you all,
Sharon & Ben
After seven years of creating alternate futures, we have decided to draw the River Reeves Foundation to a timely close.
Peace and love to you all,
Sharon & Ben
💙💛💜❤️💚 https://t.co/t7KnNJH3jv— River Reeves Foundation (@RRFoundation__) February 14, 2023
