PETER K AY: HELP ME CURE KILLER DISEASE
New bid to raise money for charity
COMIC Peter Kay has broken his silence for the first time since scrapping his £40million tour as he announced a charity fundraiser to help find a cure for a rare genetic disease.
COMIC Peter Kay is to stage a charity fund-raiser to help find a cure for a rare genetic disease.
His first tweet in three months revealed he will be holding a special screening of two new episodes of Car Share.
Cash from the event at the Blackpool Opera House on April 7 will go ® to The Lily Foundation which leads the fight against incurable Mitochondrial Disease.
Sufferers can experience poor growth, seizures, muscle weakness, vision and hearing loss, learning disabilities or problems with their heart, lungs, brain or other organs.
Peter, 44, said last night the cause he was raising money for was an “inspiring charity that helps to improve the lives of children with Mitochondrial Disease”. He added: “I’ve had first-hand experience of the foundation’s work and I’m proud to raise both awareness and much-needed funds to help with the inspiring work they provide to children and their families.” Tickets for the Car Share show go on sale at 9am tomorrow. Fans were delighted at the comedian’s comeback after his shock cancellation of a sell-out 109 gig tour due to “unforeseen family circumstances”. But in a new post he wrote: “Exciting news: A charity screening of new Peter Kay’s Car Share episodes will be held at Blackpool Opera House on
Saturday 7th April. Tickets on sale Saturday at 9am.’’
Foundation founder and chief executive officer Liz Curtis said she was proud and delighted.
She added: “The Lily Foundation has worked hard for years to support families affected by the disease and fund medical research in the hope that one day we can find a cure.
“Peter’s generous support will make a real difference to our work both in helping us to improve the lives of some very sick children and in raising awareness about a devastating illness that all too often gets overlooked.
“A huge thank-you to Peter for thinking of us and supporting this important cause.’’ The comic’s return triggered delight from fans on social networking sites.
One messaged: “Now that’s gonna be sumit special... wot an ACE series!!’’
Another said: “Nice to hear from you Peter, hope all is well with you and your family. Take care.”
Welcome
Somebody else replied: “Welcome back.’’
The second series of the BBC show ended on an emotional cliffhanger last year when John, played by Peter, rebuffed the advances of his car share colleague Kayleigh, played by Sian Gibson.
Fans of the programme were dismayed when Peter announced that he had no plans to write a further series.
But he later announced he was working on a special finale and an improvised episode called Car Share: Unscripted.
Both will be screened at the charity bash, along with two other episodes.
It is not the first time Peter has helped a good cause.
In 2016, he performed three shows to raise £223,000 to help mum-of-three Polly Haydock, 37, when her cancer spread. Brave Polly lost her battle last August.
The BBC said last night the final two Car Share episodes would go out in May.