BANDS will take to the stage to drum up support for young people suffering from mental health problems at an all-day music festival in Oxford on Saturday.

The Isis Farmhouse at Iffley Lock will host the We Love Highfield festival, which will raise money to help 11 to 18 year-olds at the Highfield Unit Oxford, a mental health facility at Warneford Hospital.

Acts including Irish folk-pop act Hudson Taylor – who will support Jake Bugg on his UK stadium tour – and local group Family Machine will play to help patients lead more normal lives.

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Organiser Stuart Hobbs, who is an occupational therapist at the Highfield Unit where he teaches music to patients, said the money will go to activities which the NHS is not able to fund.

He said: “There are certain things that the trust doesn’t have a budget for.

“We need money for education trips to museums – or other things that a mental health unit doesn’t provide – that an adolescent might want, like Xboxes or films.

“We want to make life as normal as possible for these kids, as a hospital we need to make it a therapeutic environment for them to help them get back to normality.”

The centre currently works with 18 in-patients and about five out-patients each day who suffer from problems like eating disorders, self-harming and depression.

Mr Hobbs organised a similar festival when the centre first opened two years ago but said the pot of money to help patients is now almost empty. He said: “All the bands are more than happy to help out.

“Anybody on the music scene will be happy to help out a cause like this.

“The bands are playing for us for free and the Isis Farmhouse is being provided for free.”

And he said one of the reasons behind hosting a music festival was the positive impact music can have on people with mental health problems.

He said: “Music really helps people who suffer from mental illness.

“It really helps them to deal with it, not everyone of course but a lot of people. Music is a powerful, emotive thing.”

The festival runs from 2pm and 11pm and tickets are currently on sale, priced £20, at wegottickets.com

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