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lancashire

Theatre campaigners are latest Wellie winners 150 150 mhamer

Theatre campaigners are latest Wellie winners
Jimmy Cricket presents the April Golden Wellie award to Norman Jacobs and Joan Beatton

Jimmy presents the award to Norman Jacobs andJoan Beatton

Jimmy Cricket has announced that two theatre volunteers from Essex are the Golden Wellie winners for April.

Norman Jacobs is the chairman of the Tendering Trust which runs the West Cliff Theatre in the seaside resort of Clacton-on-Sea, while Joan Beatton is the principal co-ordinator of the volunteers who support the venue as a friends group.

Jimmy said: “Norman has been the chair of the trust for a number of years and is unwaveringly devoted to the theatre’s survival.

“He is quite a character and appeared on a TV game show lately where he pocketed  £10,000 in prize money and used it to fund an adventure to south America.

“Joan is a tireless campaigner for the West Cliff Theatre. She leads the volunteers group from the front, putting in so much time and energy to help keep the theatre alive, vibrant and, most importantly, open.”

The West Cliff Theatre is one of Jimmy’s favourite venues – he has appeared there on several occasions in the past, including headlining the 2006 summer season – and he wanted to recognise the efforts of Joan and Norman in trying to keep it going – hence the Golden Wellington award to both of them.

He made the presentation during his last visit to the theatre on Easter Sunday. Jimmy was appearing in the evening, but earlier in the day he was invited to a lunch with the friends group as a special guest and he used the opportunity to present Norman and Joan with the Golden Wellington.

Jimmy Cricket with Norman Jacobs and his wife Linda

Jimmy with Norman and his wife Linda

Building communities from nothing… 150 150 mhamer

Building communities from nothing…

The charity Cameo-Aid delivers education to poor and deprived children in East Africa

Jimmy Cricket says he recently received “a very heartening report ” from a gentleman called Tom Power regarding a charity for underprivileged children.

Tom has arranged events over the past year featuring well-known entertainer Jimmy in order to raise money for CAMEO-Aid which delivers education to poor and deprived children in East Africa.The charity Cameo-Aid delivers education to poor and deprived children in East Africa

The events were held in Whitefield, North Manchester and in Haslingden, East Lancashire.

In his role as chairperson of the trustees of the charity, Tom over the month of March has been visiting the education projects CAMEO-Aid has been supporting.

These schemes are at schools in Mbirizi, Uganda and at Mupoi in South Sudan, and Tom – who also provided the photographs on this page – has given some detailed information to Jimmy about each of the projects.

The charity Cameo-Aid delivers education to poor and deprived children in East Africa

He said: “Mbirizi is a bush school.  It is 9km off the road through the bush and is 16km from the nearest school.  This distance is too great a burden for children to travel on a daily basis, hence the building of the school in Mbirizi.

“This school is now proving to be well-managed and is achieving the grades which makes them very competitive with national schools.

The charity Cameo-Aid delivers education to poor and deprived children in East Africa

“One of the side effects of putting the school in Mbirizi is that small shops have now been built to service the school and the community.  From nothing, this community now has a school which employs 10 teachers and has created employment for builders and for the shops.

“In Mupoi, South Sudan, the school is newer and currently has 75 students, three teachers,  a cook and a helper.  This school was won back from the forest and refurbished to its present standard.

“A new toilet and shower block were added and there are plans to add two store rooms and a small room to cope with children who become sick.  They then want to add a kitchen and a dining room in the future.

“As the children move up, they will build more classrooms and be refurbishing another building on this site which will be wrested from the forest.”

For more information on the charity, visit the website here.

The charity Cameo-Aid delivers education to poor and deprived children in East Africa

‘Aching ribs from his continuous hilarity’ 150 150 mhamer

‘Aching ribs from his continuous hilarity’

Jimmy Cricket and the cast for the fundraising concert at Christchurch C of E church in Chatburn, Lancashire

Jimmy Cricket sent “everyone home with a smile on their face” and helped to generate more than £1,000 towards a church development fund recently.

The famous Northern Irish entertainer appeared at a fundraising concert at Christchurch C of E Church in Chatburn, Lancashire.

He was the host and headline performer for the concert which also featured a musical tribute to the Andrews sisters – known as the ‘Sparkle Sisters’ – and an all-male musical act called the ‘Flat Cap Pack’.

Completing the line-up were two musical ensembles comprising of talented students from nearby Stonyhurst College.

The event was organised to raise money for the Church Development Fund as the plan is to install new toilets within the church that are more accessible.

Organiser Clive Greenwood said: “Jimmy was just so terrific. Everyone went out with a smile on their face and a spring in their step, and there were quite a few aching ribs from his continuous hilarity.

“What a performance. He attracted a large audience and helped generate over £1,000 towards the Church Development Fund. Thank you.”

Presenting… the Jimmy & Alfie Show 150 150 mhamer

Presenting… the Jimmy & Alfie Show

Jimmy Cricket is set to join forces with BBC Radio Newcastle’s Alfie Joey for a comedy show to be reckoned with at South Shield’s The Customs House

The legendary Jimmy Cricket is set to join forces with BBC Radio Newcastle’s Alfie Joey for a comedy extravaganza at The Customs House Theatre in South Shields.

For one night only, two of the finest exponents of the art of comedy will bring their contrasting styles to a show that will be bursting with one-liners, gags, stories and the odd punchline or two!

The Jimmy and Alfie Show is on Saturday 10 May.  Tickets have been kept affordable, with the top price capped at £14.

Alfie said: “It is a sheer delight to be sharing the stage with a comedy great like Jimmy Cricket.

“By teaming up with Jimmy, we not only complement one another, but we’ll bring different gag-telling approaches to the evening. This means those who can come along will have a real taste of comedy throughout our show at The Customs House.”

Jimmy said: “I’ve worked with Alfie on a number of occasions in the past, including teaming up together a couple of years ago for a show at the ARC arts centre in Stockton-on-Tees. So I was thrilled to be offered this chance to work with him again in South Shields because he is just great fun to be around.

“Why not come along and indulge in a few chuckles in what will be a splendid evening of laughter and frivolity!”

Lemon Tree, jam night & soap stars 150 150 mhamer

Lemon Tree, jam night & soap stars

Brian and Maxine from the renowned band caked Lemon Tree

A renowned band called Lemon Tree were among the artists at a recent jam night organised and hosted by famous comedian Jimmy Cricket.

Local, national and sometimes international entertainers perform for nothing at the monthly event which takes place at St Vincents RC Parish Centre in Norden, Rochdale.

Among the musicians at the jam evening in March was Lemon Tree which features Brian and Maxine.

Jimmy said: “The pair have been in the business of performing for a number of years and Lemon Tree developed a reputation of being one of the best corporate live musical bands in the country.

“As a result they were never out of work and travelled the length and breadth of the country performing at major corporate events and company parties.”

Out of the success of the band, Brian also developed an entertainment agency called the Lemon Tree Agency.

It initially specialised in arranging musical acts and bands,  but of late Brian has developed the personal appearance side of the business through links he has made with a number of soap stars. His new website can be found here. 

Brian and Maxine are seen above performing at the St Vincents jam night in March and, below, they are pictured with Jimmy.

Both photographs were taken by St Vincent’s photographer John Kay.

Jimmy Cricket with Brian and Maxine from the renowned band caked Lemon Tree
St Patrick’s Day event set for repeat 150 150 mhamer

St Patrick’s Day event set for repeat

Jimmy with Clare Bowles and Marianne KavanaghA St Patrick’s Day event featuring famous entertainer Jimmy Cricket was so successful that he was immediately booked again for next year!

The Northern Irish comedian appeared at a specially arranged lunch for St Pat’s Day 2014, which was held at the iconic Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool.

Jimmy is pictured with Clare Bowles in the photograph below left and, right, both of them are joined by Marianne Kavanagh. The photos were posted by Clare on Facebook.

Jimmy Cricket with Clare BowlesThe event was organised by the Adelphi Hotel and because it went down so well, within 24 hours it was decided to have the same again for the 2015 St Patrick’s celebrations.

And for next year’s show they did not hesitate to rebook Jimmy as they had received so much interest from people for a repeat performance.

The Edwardian-style Adelphi hotel is internationally renowned and was the focus of the  fly-on-the-wall TV documentary series Hotel.

The summer of 2006 150 150 mhamer

The summer of 2006

Jimmy Cricket with Tracy Hudson and Sue

This picture of Jimmy Cricket was taken at the West Cliff Theatre in Clacton–on-Sea during the summer season of 2006.

The famous entertainer is shown alongside audience member Tracy Hudson and also Sue who was one of the theatre’s ushers.

Tracy is a big fan of Jimmy and regularly watches archive footage on his YouTube channel.
Jimmy said: “Tracy is not currently in the best of health, but I wish her a very speedy recovery so she can get to one of my live shows in the future.”