The Big Beat For Hospice endurance drumming event has announced a partnership with Manx Timing Solutions which will provide timing equipment to display the length of time the drummers have been playing for.

The Big Beat for Hospice committee member Martin Rigby stated: “We are happy to announce our technical partnership with Manx Timing Solutions which will help keep the drummers informed and motivated whilst we play and also to inform the general public of just how long we've been playing for. The timer, which is seen at many local events such as the End to End mountain bike and walking challenges, the Ramsey Marathon and numerous cycling events, is synonymous with challenging endurance events and we are thankful to all at Manx Timing Solutions for their support whilst we drum up funds for Hospice.”

The Big Beat for Hospice, which will see a group of musicians playing in unison to songs of all styles for over 48 hours, will begin on at 1pm Friday 31 October and finish at 4pm on Sunday 2 November at the Villa Marina Promenade Suite.

Graham Hughes from Manx Timing solutions stated: “Manx Timing Solutions are proud to be able to assist at this event by providing our Tag Heuer professional timing clock. The clock will display the elapsed time since drumming commences and also has a rhythm all of its own - as the digits make a positive clunking sound as the seconds tick away!"

Along with the unison drumming, seeing a minimum of three drummers playing at all times, which will carry on throughout the weekend, there are a number of other events happening over the weekend including a Hop Tu Naa party on Friday 31st October featuring a fancy dress competition and a burlesque performance from Sanguine Shee; Saturday 1st November sees a DJ performances from 8pm featuring Ballagroove DJs who will be playing a range of funk and soul music, ska music compered by Big Al Kneen and a dance mix from Audiowok DJs. Sunday 2nd November sees the Big Beat Raffle from 2pm and the all important Final Hour from 3pm.

Martin also stated “We will have a number of public drum kits and hand percussion available if anyone wants to join in with the drumming, simply make a small donation of your choice and get on a kit, we'll even give you a lesson if you want!

Raffle tickets are also now available with over 30 prizes available including the star prize of a complete drum kit. Tickets will be available at the event and from any Big Beat For Hospice drummer, we would love to hear from you.

For further information regarding the Big Beat For Hospice see our Facebook page www.facebook.com/thebigbeatforhospice and search YouTube for The Big Beat For Hospice to see our promotional video and clips from some of our appearances so far this year to get a flavour of what we're doing.”