Phoenix Nights Fundraiser
On Saturday 28th January at St. Gregory's Social Club Farnworth, Bolton, we held the Phoenix Nights Fundraiser. The event was themed on Peter Kay's popular comedy TV series 'Phoenix Nights' and the venue for the event was the actual club where the series was filmed.
The idea for the event first came about when some of my friends and I, who are all big fans of Peter Kay, had a discussion on the Peter Kay forum of which we are all members (www.peterkayforum.com). We were discussing how we thought it'd be fun to have a 'Phoenix Nights' theme night. I then suggested the idea of making the event into a fundraising event, and therefore nominated the ISG as our chosen charity. My friends really liked the idea and were very keen to go ahead with it, and that's basically how it all began.
After months of planning, organising and preparations such as booking the venue, booking the DJ, sorting out auction prizes and booking our special guests for the evening etc, we were good to go. My friend Hayley helped with the auction prizes and made some fabulous posters with a phoenix nights theme and brought along balloons etc to decorate the room with. Once we had confirmation from one of our special guests, Paddy McGuinness, I contacted the local newspapers to advertise our event. Paddy and I have been in touch for a while now and he has been wonderful in his support of the ISG. Paddy very kindly agreed to attend our event as a guest, and also to bring along some auction prizes for us too which was great! With Paddy now confirmed I went ahead with contacting the newspapers and no sooner had the articles been printed the phone began to ring from people wanting to buy tickets. Tickets were selling fast and soon all 200 tickets were sold!
Time flew by, and before we knew it the night of the event had arrived. I can't begin to explain how I felt personally. From the moment everyone arrived right up until everyone left I was overwhelmed by it all, but at the same time I was thrilled at how successful the night was. The evening began with getting the room organised and set up, ready for everyone's arrival. All my friends from the Peter Kay forum arrived and helped out, and some had travelled from as far as London especially for the event, to show their support. Mandy Aldwin and Claire Winter from the ISG also attended the event and set up an ISG stand. The night's entertainment began with music from the DJ, followed by a sing-along from our host and compere for the evening Frankie Whittle. Frankie then introduced me and I did a short speech as to what the event was in aid of. The club by this time was packed, I was even beginning to wonder if there would be enough seats for everyone. I was then informed that our special guests had arrived, so off I went to greet them and discuss the plans for the evening. I took to the stage, and introduced our special guests all of whom were cast members of Phoenix Nights, and they were; Paddy McGuinness (aka Paddy the doorman), Janice Connolly (aka Holy Mary), Justin Moorhouse (aka Young Kenny) and Steve Edge (aka Alan the keyboard player).
To everyone who bought tickets for the event our guests were somewhat of a mystery right up until the night of the event, which added to the excitement. So as soon as our guests walked in they were greeted with a rapturous applause and even a standing ovation. Our guests then did a meet and greet, where they met everyone who was there, signed autographs and posed for photos. Then it was time for the auction.
Our guests held the auction and had everyone in stitches, it was great fun. They did a fantastic job of getting high bids for the prizes which included signed items including; signed dvd's, calendars, photos, exclusive Max & Paddy items and much more. Just as the auction finished, Paddy stayed onstage with microphone in hand and was making a speech. At the time I was still concentrating on what I was doing, finishing off things for the auction. When I heard Paddy mention my name, he was talking about me and I didn't even realise. He got me up onstage and presented me with a lovely gift. It was two drawings that my friend Janine had done, one of a portrait of me and Paddy and the other was of chimpanzees (my favourite animals). It wasn't until I came offstage that my friends told me to read the back of the picture of me and Paddy, where I found special messages written on the back from all my friends including Paddy, I was very touched. Next was supper time, pie/pasties and peas which went down a treat. Shortly after supper, some of our guests had to leave, but we were later entertained by Janice Connolly as Barbara Nice, and what a riot!!! Everyone didn't quite know what to expect when Barbara came onstage with her own rendition of Robbie Williams' 'Let me Entertain You', this was followed by lots of comedy and audience participation. She then introduced a game for everyone to join in with called 'Guess the theme tune' whereby music was played from TV theme tunes and if you guessed the tune correctly, you put money (a donation of your choice) on the table. Barbara (Janice) was fantastic getting everyone involved and all the money on the table at the end of the night was for the ISG, which by the end of the game was a substantial amount.
For her big finale, Barbara performed… wait for it… a crowd surf!! She got all the men in the audience to stand in a group at the front of the stage, then she jumped off the stage into the crowd and crowd surfed all the way to the other side of the stage, to the music of Iggy Pop's 'Passengers'. I don't think anyone believed she'd actually do it, but it was great fun!! The evening then shortly drew to a close, and everyone danced the night away to some great music from the DJ. It was only then that I could really relax and breathe a sigh of relief reassured that the night was a great success, much better than I could ever have anticipated. And to see everyone up dancing enjoying themselves, having a really good time made everything worthwhile. By the end of the night I was very sore, had blisters on my hands and feet, and was exhausted, but believe me it was well worth it. And I'd definitely do it again. The event was a huge success raising in excess of £2,000!!!!! So well done everyone!!!!
I very much hope that this is only the beginning of our fundraising efforts for the ISG. From something as simple as a topic of conversation, something very special evolved, something I know I certainly won't forget and you too could do the same. This was the first big fundraising event I've ever organised, and to say it is a fulfilling achievement is an understatement. Knowing that from something so simple, so many people had such a great time, not only that but they were also educated about Ichthyosis and the ISG all at the same time as well as raising vital funds. I do hope to have more events in the near future, my goal at present is to hold a big charity ball or concert or variety show of some sort. So if you too are interested in becoming involved with the next event or have any ideas of your own then please don't hesitate to contact me through the Ichthyosis Support Group on 0845 602 9202 or email isg@ichthyosis.org.uk
Let's make each event bigger and better than the last, to help raise as much funds as we possibly can, also to help put Ichthyosis and the ISG on the map.
Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank the following people; Many thanks to all the staff at St. Gregory's Social Club, to Carole and Maurice Edge at Coleman's bakery for the catering, Simon the DJ, Frankie Whittle, Images printing for printing our tickets, Helen Tomlinson and Mavis Parker from Bolton CVS, Mandy Aldwin and Claire Winter for joining us on behalf of the ISG, Hayley Collins for all your hard work and for your auction prizes you kindly donated, to all my friends at the Peter Kay forum you've all been fantastic, and not forgetting everyone who bought tickets for the event and who also placed bids in the auction. And last but by no means least a special thank you to our guests for the evening Paddy McGuinness, Janice Connolly, Justin Moorhouse and Steve Edge. I really couldn't have done it without you, your support has been wonderful. Apologies if I've missed anyone.
Cheers everyone and here's to the next one!!!