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Magic show and
cream teas are leagues fundraisers
Although unable to walk on stage, Wayne Dobson (centre)
starred at the Klub Magic launch in aid of equipment for Brighton hospitals. He
is pictured after the show with host Mark Worgan and ‘deceptive comedian’
Mike Cassidy (right).
A N evening of magic at
Brighton’s Komedia helped boost funds for Brighton’s hospital friends whose
awards to the trust will exceed £110,000 this year.
The audience for the launch of
Klub Magic, the Komedia’s new monthly mix of illusion and stand-up comedy,
included many league members and supporters.
Topping the bill was former TV
conjurer Wayne Dobson.
Wayne regularly pulled in 11
million viewers to his TV show ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’ in its heyday in the
Eighties.
Since then he’s been struck
down with multiple sclerosis. Now, despite being physically disabled, he is
bravely making a comeback. He is unable to walk and has to be carried on stage
for his act.
Appearing with Wayne was
self-styled ‘deceptive comedian’ Mike Cassidy. Mike has previously performed
at a number of former Brighton Health Care events. Former city councillor Mark
Worgan hosted the show.
Audience participation was a
feature of the evening. Consultant surgeon Bob Gumpert, a league executive
committee member, provided an unexpected star turn.
Currently the league’s
fundraising is mainly directed at providing twenty Pronefro therapy chairs for
the new kidney unit, due to open early next year.
These electrically operated
chairs will enable patients undergoing dialysis to independently adjust their
position during treatment. They will be of immense benefit since patients are
linked to the dialysis machine by the forearm for up to four hours.
Conventional armchairs used
for this purpose are uncomfortable and difficult for the patient to manipulate
with one arm incapacitated.
The league’s grants to the
trust this year totalling some £110,300 also include £25,000 to the audiology
department for a portable auditory response system.
This will be used across the
city for babies born at home and for older people who would otherwise be unable
to complete a full hearing test.
The stroke unit at Brighton
General Hospital is to benefit from a grant of £10,000.
This will be used towards
state-of-the-art gymnasium equipment for the rehabilitation of patients
following a stroke or other serious illnesses.
A range of smaller items of
equipment is also being funded for use in Brighton hospital wards and
departments.
In all, the league has now
made grants totalling over half a million pounds to the trust’s hospitals over
the last three years.
Praising the league’s
members and its supporters for raising such a large sum of money to benefit
patient care, trust director of facilities and capital development Lee Soden
said: "Their work continues to make a real difference in the services
offered to patients."
The league’s main
fundraising event, the annual fair, takes place on 25 October at Hove Town Hall.
The friends are anxious to
recruit more stallholders for the event.
They are very keen to get some new blood to
join those who traditionally support the event in running stalls to raise cash
to support their work.
Happy trio … Good news for the
Princess Royal League of Friends. They raised £1,100 when chairman June Raeburn
opened her award-wining garden for the day last month. Pictured (l to r) are
renowned cookery writer Katie Stewart, who made all the scones on the spot for
the cream teas, June Raeburn and vice-chairman Joan Dew. Photo by Valerie
Shrod.
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The Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton
