Teenage Cancer Trust comedy night raises £1400

The Teenage Cancer Trust say they are “delighted” with a benefit night at the Newcastle Stand that helped raise over £1400 for charity.

The show, at The Stand Comedy Club in Newcastle, featured Gavin Webster, Game of Throne‘s Ben Crompton, musical comic Stephen “Frizz” Frizzle, Andrew Arrowsmith, and Lauren Pattison.

And it was hosted by Steffen Peddie, who is currently filming the second series of BBC sitcom Hebburn.

Zoe Hull, a regional organiser for the Trust, said: “All the acts were well received; one audience member even said that it was ‘the best fiver I ever spent!’”

The show raised £1464 for The Teenage Cancer Trust, which builds specialist units in NHS hospitals to improve the quality of life and chances of survival of young people who have been diagnosed with cancer.

The Trust has units across the UK, including the Newcastle’s Great North Children’s Hospital at the RVI, and the Freeman Hospital.

Hull told Giggle Beats that the event raised “enough to pay for a new flat screen television on one of our units, which can really help a teenager take their mind off the treatment they are going through.”

Lauren Pattison, who is next week appearing in the regional heats of the BBC New Comedy Awards, said: “Being young and thankfully in good health I’m glad to be able to help raise funds and awareness of illnesses that particularly affect my age group.”

Peddie introduced the acts, drew the raffle, and flipped the coin for the “heads and tails” game, during which audience members were whittled down by placing their hands on either their head or their bottom, until one person was left standing.

The winner won a bottle of champagne.

Talking to Giggle Beats about the TCT, Peddie, who plays “Big Keith” in Hebburn, said: “it’s one of the charities that I always support; they do not always get the recognition they deserve.”