Leon Disco was started in the mid
1970’s by Leon School
Headmaster Mr D B Bradshaw. Every Tuesday evening there
was the LOWER SCHOOL DISCO run by Mr Bradshaw
himself with the UPPER SCHOOL
DISCO on a Wednesday
evening by Mr John Shiner.
When David Ashford joined the teaching
staff the
headmaster roped him in to help run the Lower School Disco.
In those days the lunch hour was
1 hour 20 minutes long.
Headmaster Bradshaw thought a lunchtime disco
would keep students out of mischief. He told Mr Ashford he was to be in charge then put up the money to buy the equipment.
would keep students out of mischief. He told Mr Ashford he was to be in charge then put up the money to buy the equipment.
That equipment was purchased from
MAN Music – Marshall and Nun Music, run by Jim Marshall’s
son.
Among those Mr Ashford brought in to run the disco he appointed 14 year of
John Chapman as the DJ. John now owns
and runs a giant retro-pop radio station in Seattle Washington USA.
If it had not been for Leon Disco would KSWB Radio Clatsop have happened.
Beyond that four LEONITES work as
presenters on different radio stations in the UK.
Leon Disco became famed for its
24 hour charity disco
marathons. The first happened in 1984 to support a brand
new charity opening in Milton Keynes – Willen Hospice.
The picture below shows another 24
hour charity LEON
DISCO which was run in conjunction with Horizon Radio –
now part
of Heart Radio.
Don’t the Leon students look to
be having fun ?
David now
works with CRMK Radio
presenting five x 2 hour shows every week where he is
known as The Geriatric DJ.
He has many LEONITE listeners
including one in
Australia, one in Egypt and one in The Czech Republic.
LEON
DISCO – THE LEGEND LIVES ON
It was at
that Willen Hospice 24 hour charity disco
Bruce Abbott was then Leon’s
Headmaster, he and his wife Jenny were
a tower of strength to David and his
family. Chairman of
Governors Alan Turner and Governor David Taylor, who was
Mayor of Milton Keynes, were particularly supportive.
Colleagues AND students –
David Ashford was a head of year in the school – were very kind.
David was known for organising
many trips and extracurricular activities for his students through which Rebekah
became well known to the school. One teenager in particular used to look after
Beck on school trips. From caring for Rebekah she went on to become a renal
nurse.
Rebekah had two failed kidney
transplants. It was decided to
use David as a live donor. The board of
governors voted to
give David three months paid leave and to employ someone
to
take over his duties during his absence.
On the day before the dual
operations were due to happen
the transplant surgeon called off the transplant.
David took
two days leave then returned to work. On the day of his return he
had to take an assembly. The students were all seated in the hall without
knowing he had not been admitted to hospital. He remembers, walking to the
front of the hall to murmurs of “He’s back. What’s he doing here ?”
Rebekah was back on call for a cadaver
donor.
David was in California as part
of a school exchange programme. He drove from Mexico to Los Angeles then flew
overnight back to England. He was met at Heathrow by a friend who said: “You
are not to worry, Rebekah had a kidney transplant last night.”
David’s family was among the
first to be accommodated in the very first Ronald McDonald House in Britain.
While
David
left Leon School a few years later.
Today around one hundred LEONITES
support
the music he plays. He is in
contact with Sir John Leon, 4th
Baronet.
It is a group of LEONITES who run
David’s music support group: The
Sunshine Smile Crew.
Rebekah had a happy life, worked as
a nursery teacher and
was married to Gary. She was known for her cheeky and
infectious smile. To all who knew her she was LITTLE MISS
SUNSHINE.
Rebekah died suddenly and
unexpectedly on Friday 19th
May 2017 aged 34. David and his wife,
Maureen, were
inundated with cards, calls and messages from LEONITES –
120 of
them.
There is one LEONITE who, by his
own admission, was not a
“good” student at school every Fathers’ Day contacts
David
asking to be his father for the day and on Mothers Day’
asking Maureen to
be his mother for the day.
When David learned that LEONITE
Jimmy Owens was
homeless and rough sleeping in
Central Milton Keynes he wanted
to organise a group of his former students to find
Jimmy and show him love.
He
was told: “Oh didn’t you know ? He died.”
When David
stared to befriend a
rough sleeping a young couple
LEONITES solidly supported
him. It
was a call from on LEONITE, who no longer lives in Milton
Keynes but on
the South Coast, which was instrumental
in
making it possible for David to rescue his friends from their
situation.
Josh and Jelena now work within
David’s music programme.
When a LEONITE
reunion was held a year ago it was Josh
and Jelena who played the music.
LEON
DISCO – THE LEGEND LIVES ON.
Playing
music on Bletchley
Bandstand at the Christmas Lights
Switch On, David was
approached
by a LEONITE. She said: “I was a
bitch at school.” David did not
remember her being that way. As
she told David of her children, all
graduates
in responsible
professional and management
positions David smiled and said
that no bitch could have achieved that but a LEONITE could and indeed did.
On the first anniversary of
Rebekah’s death Sunshine Smile
Day was held. This was organised by LEONITE
Rachel. It
was the same day as Prince Harry and Megan were married.
They sent a
message of best wishes to Sunshine Smile Day.
Sunshine Smile Day 2019 is going
to be a much bigger
event. It is entirely being organised by LEONITES. An
invitation, a welcome, is here issued to present Leon staff,
parents and
students. There are two events ahead of
Sunshine Smile Day and two events on
the day itself.
SATURDAY
27th April – 9am to 5pm Bletchley Bandstand
David will be using a traditional
vinyl disco twin-deck for a
Rock and Roll Party. People will be handing out
sweets,
balloons and invitations to attend Sunshine Smile Day.
Those running
the event will also be promoting Milton Keynes Winter Night Shelter and Milton Keynes
Food Bank.
Everyone is invited to come down
and have fun. Leon
Visit David’s website: www.geriatricdj.com and click on
SUNSHINE
SMILE DAY.
11pm
SUNDAY 12th May – 9am Monday 12th May
David will be presenting an
overnight radio disco party to
promote SUNSHINE SMILE DAY. Friends are invited to
listen, to text, send Facebook
messages or even drop into
the studio and say “HI”. Podcasts covering 2 hour periods
of
the show will be available.
Everyone is invited to come to
SUNSHINE SMILE DAY. We welcome anyone who wishes to set up a stall to promote
and raise support for their chosen good cause. Personal craft stalls are
welcome. There will be food vans, bouncy castles, pony rides and lots of
entertainment- we even have a fire eater. The police will be there to arrest
anyone who is not smiling.
Anyone who would like a spot to
play an instrument or sing is
invited to the stage is welcome.
Leon Students are invited to come
and spin some discs, to
grab the microphone and try their hand at being a DJ.
Milton Keynes Irish Centre is
hosting SUNSHINE SMILE
DAY. The Irish Centre is run by a LEONITE.
SMILE DISCO will, in part, be a
LEONITE reunion but open
to all.
to all.
David will be the DJ for the
evening with supporting music
from Graham who as a student used to run Denbigh
School
Disco !
We are asking people to come
along with a tin for the Food
Bank, a coin for the Night Shelter and a big
broad SMILE.
LEON
DISCO – THE LEGEND LIVES ON
So, everyone, support SUNSHINE
SMILE DAY, support the
good causes involved and help the LEGEND OF LEON
DISCO
live on.
No school anywhere, ever has had
a disco quite like LEON
DISCO.
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