Kelly family go the extra mile to raise money for St Ann’s

The Kelly family, from Reddish, are half way towards their magical target of raising £16,000 for St Ann’s.

That is the cost of running our hospice each day, a fundraising goal set to honour the memory of Ian Kelly (69) who was manager of Tameside markets.

Ian, who died last year and was a patient at St Ann’s, loved poetry, music and stand-up comedy so an Open Mic Night organised by his family at St Joseph’s School, Reddish, celebrated his life, raising £770.

Wife Janice, sons Greg and Mark and daughters Rachel and Linda did him proud, with a highlight a singing stage debut for Linda’s daughter Olivia May, aged seven.

Greg, an actor who recently appeared in Avoidance at The King’s Arms, Salford, said: “We’d like to thank everyone who took part, including comedian Sean Moran, musician Karl Walsh and my dad’s cousin Stephen Cooper who sang the well-known folk tune The Blackpool Belle.”

“A poem dad wrote and audio-recorded called Another Mouth just before I was born in 1984 was played. Dad also liked the work of artist John Kimpton who specialises in drawing cats and he kindly auctioned a piece of his work.”

Rachel raised £352 by competing alongside sister Linda in the Salford Quays triathlon, while bucket collections at performances of Billy Elliott at the Palace Theatre also raised £3,963.54 after lead actress Annette McLaughlin made two impassioned speeches urging the audience to support the hospice.

Greg added: “Dad received wonderful care from St Ann’s which relies heavily on donations which is why we’re so keen to help this fantastic charity. Our original target was £1,000 but we soon changed it when we realised it costs £16,000 a day to keep the hospice open and it’s great that we’re now half way there.”

* To donate go to www.justgiving.com/thekellysfundraisingevent