Pushing boat out for RNLI
A FUNDRAISER for Porthcawl RNLI, organised by actress Ruth Jones and featuring a surprise appearance from Rob Brydon, has raised an estimated £18,000.
WE may never know what happened between Uncle Bryn and Jason from Gavin & Stacey on that mysterious fishing trip, but Rob Brydon’s character didn’t mind jumping in at the deep end for charity.
Brydon’s Bryn stunned the crowd at a fundraiser for Porthcawl RNLI on Friday when he burst into the packed Grand Pavilion to join his former co-star Ruth Jones, who’d been hosting the evening’s show as popular sitcom creation Nessa.
Nessa and Friends Push the Boat Out for the RNLI at Porthcawl had also been organised by Jones, who grew up in the town and whose South African-born brother-in-law, Etienne Cronjé is part of the local lifeboat crew.
The evening is thought to have raised in the region of £18,000 for the RNLI.
“Ruth has been a big supporter of ours for a while now and really wanted to do something to help,” said Porthcawl RNLI press officer Ian Stroud.
“She was basically behind the whole thing, sorting the food, raffle and all the other acts on the bill – which even included Bonnie Tyler, Craig Gallivan, Russell Jones Jr, The Dave Barry Big Band and Only Men Aloud.”
James Corden opened the evening with a video message from Smithy, which was filmed on the set of James’s American chat show, The Late Late Show.
Ian said: “It was an amazing night, but then – just as Ruth, or Nessa as I should probably call her – was reminiscing about Uncle Bryn, in Rob came through the back of the venue.
“Everyone went mad because hardly anyone knew he was going to turn up – even those of us be- hind the scenes weren’t 100% sure it would happen.”
The climax of the evening took place when the comedy pairing launched in a version of their 2009 Children In Need charttopper (Barry) Islands in the Stream.
“To top it all Bonnie Tyler and Only Men Aloud joined in with them towards the end – it really made everyone’s night, “adds Ian.
“The whole place was buzzing.”
To help raise funds on the night Ruth went around the tables having selfies taken with members of the audience.
Raffle tickets were also sold and that was followed by an auction which included a wide variety of items professionally sold by auctioneer Andrew Thomas from HRT estate agents in Cowbridge.
Porthcawl lifeboat chairman John Abraham said: “The whole evening was a true success for Ruth and her friends, the audience and of course Porthcawl Lifeboat Station.
“We are grateful for all the effort that she put into making her evening so special for us, she definitely Pushed the Boat Out for Porthcawl RNLI.”