STARS IN THE CANYON

The Chapel

MANDY Woolford, the hardest worker in the Grand Canyon Trek group, did us all proud on Friday night when she hosted her fundraising event Stars in the Canyon – A Musical Night with Lilli Badcock and Friends.

The event was incredibly well-supported. Only four tickets were left unsold by the time the show started and it was great to see so many people dressed up for the occasion.

I could tell Mandy was extremely nervous but she held it together very well, making sure guests were greeted at the door and even managing a few minutes to chat to each and every one of us as we turned up.

Miss Lilli B opened the evening in impeccable style and we were treated to an hour and a half of theatre and musical show tunes featuring the vocal talents and collaborations of Duncan Heather, Kevin Badcock, Kieran Sutcliffe, Sarah Louise James of Britain’s Got Talent and Jo Underwood, to name but a few.

Midway through the evening Spire FM’s Martin Starke hosted an auction supported by some very generous donations from local businesses and very generous bids from the audience, which helped bolster Mandy’s charity coffers. With the auction brought to a swift close due to the event over-running slightly, the stars then came on for an exceptional second-half which saw four standing ovations from the audience: yes, it was that good.

Not only was it moving to listen to such quality performances, but it was also great to see so many gifted singers turn up to perform on one stage for the Stars Appeal: so talented and professional, yet so generous to dedicate their time and skills to such a worthy cause.

The best news of the night was to hear that Mandy smashed her £4,000 target by a mile. Not only did she put on a wonderful, entertaining Friday evening but she exceeded her fundraising goal with months to spare – well done!

EDDIE DEIGHTON

Mandy would like to thank the Chapel for providing the venue for free, and has now raised more than £6,500 for the Stars Appeal before her trek starts on May 2.

The money will be split between NICU, where Mandy’s son was cared for, the Breast Cancer Unit appeal and Pembroke unit in memory of Chris Ewington.