Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Thousands raised as ‘fearless’ star hailed
A TRIBUTE fund set up to honour “fearless campaigner” Paul last night topped £123,000.
The Battersea Dogs and Cats Home appeal was in recognition of his work with them and his show Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs.
Money rolled in as Save the Children UK also hailed the star, who was an ambassador for 15 years, rallying support for African orphans. Child poverty adviser Meghan MeekO’Connor said: “Paul truly cared. Once, before the Paul O’Grady Show, he was in make-up when a Save the Children colleague briefed him about child poverty in the UK on the rise.
“He asked for all the details, how families were struggling, then he started to cry. ‘Stop,’ he said. ‘You’re making my make-up run’.
“The pair sat for a long time and Paul didn’t take a single note, instead committing it all to memory before going out to do his show. He stared down the camera and told his viewers what he had just heard with such passion. We have lost a fearless campaigner for children.”
Charlie: He gave me courage to be a dad
ACTOR Charlie Condou paid tribute to pal of 30 years Paul – and revealed how the star helped him find the courage to become a dad.
Charlie, 50, who played Marcus Dent in Corrie, is now dad to daughter
Georgia, 13, and son Hal, 10, with husband Cameron Laux.
He said: “Paul would make you laugh, and he absolutely didn’t mince his words. He could be brutal. But he was so kind and compassionate.
“I remember telling him I wanted to have kids, and at that time, for a gay man, that wasn’t easy. But he told me, ‘Absolutely do it, you’ll be a great dad’. He told me it was who I was meant to be. He was so supportive. When I met him I was a boy, and I’m 50 now. In all that time I never met a person who didn’t like him.”