PIRATES RAISING PIECES OF EIGHT

By Humphrey Carter THIS Saturday the curtain goes up on the Pirates Adventure Premiere in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital with the aim of raising at least £50'000 for the hospital's charity. Helping local residents raise the much-needed funds are a host of top British celebrities including leading actress Angela Griffin who is currently starring in BBC1*s WaterLoo Road; Sally Gunnel OBE, Britain's greatest ever female athlete and the only woman in history to have held all four major championship gold medals; the late George Best's ex-wife and one of the nation's favourite cover girls Alex Best; Europe's greatest ever 100m sprinter who competed for Great Britain on over 60 occasions winning over 23 medals Linford Christie; former professional footballer and media personality John Fashanu; the former television and West End star Claire Sweeney; “The Dark Destroyer” boxer Nigel Benn; the ITV weather presenter Sian Lloyd and her fiance the Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire Lembit Opik. But, apart from the celebrities, a few more of which are going to be jetting into Palma as a surprise, the Great Ormond Street child patients are what this event is all about. As part of the premiere, six GOSH families from across the UK are being flown down here to Majorca for a week in the sun as special guests of Thomson Holidays to see the premiere and meet the many celebrities also attending. Andrew Clemence, Managing Director at Pirates Adventure, said: “This is the third year that Pirates Adventure has supported GOSHCC and all proceeds from the premiere will be donated to the hospital. Last year's premiere raised over £50'000 for GOSHCC and we're hoping to do even better this year.” Matt Forrest, Senior Fundraising Executive at GOSHCC, said: “We are delighted that Pirates Adventure has named GOSH as its chosen charity for the third year running. “We're currently aiming to raise £150 million over the next five years so Pirates' generous support is vital to our success.”