A number of Coronation Street stars, past and present, have stepped in to help Greater Manchester’s Willow Wood Hospice whose 21st anniversary fund-raising events have had to be scrapped due to Covid-19.
Karen Houlston, the hospice’s Chief Executive, explained that the charity enjoys many Corrie connections with founding patrons having been Roy Barraclough MBE and Kathy Staff, both actors who appeared on the famous cobbles, and current patrons include Julie Hesmondhalgh (Hayley Cropper) and Corrie tour guide Mark Llewellin.
Karen said: “We have a lot of Corrie fans amongst our supporters and volunteers so we were originally planning a Corrie themed celebration in December. We were really looking forward to a pint, a bowl of hot pot and a lot of Corrie anecdotes from our patron Mark Llewellin who has been connected with the show for over two decades as a Corrie tour guide. It was such a shame when we had to cancel and of course, it has certainly affected us financially.
“We were delighted however when Mark offered to speak to some his friends amongst the cast and see whether he could come up with an alternative on-line event.”
Mark picks up the story: “We now have two events which we hope Corrie fans around the world will help us with.”
ON-LINE AUCTION OF 60 LOTS FOR 60 YEARS:
Corrie legend Julie Goodyear MBE has donated 57 lots of jewellery including some of Bet’s classic pieces including the famous birdcage earrings which she wore in her final scenes as Rovers Return landlady. There are two lots from Roy Barraclough MBE’s estate including a limited edition print by Sir Peter Blake and a signed set of Corrie stamps from Julie Hesmondhalgh.
Miss Goodyear said: “I have always taken a keen interest in Willow Wood Hospice, which is a fantastic local charity, as their founding patron was my dear friend Roy Barraclough who played my screen husband Alec. When I heard that they had been forced to cancel almost all their fundraising events in this, their 21st year, I wanted to do something to help.”
A full auction catalogue will be available at www.willowwood.info very soon and lots will be on sale via the hospice’s eBay shop from the middle of November for 10 days.
DOWNLOADABLE FAN EVENT:
Thanks to Manchester’s Show Motion Media, Mark, former BBC Manchester presenter Jane Hodson, a number of Corrie stars including Jennie McAlpine, Sally-Ann Matthews, Amanda Barrie, Julie Goodyear MBE, Ted Robbins, Chris Gascoyne, Rula Lenska, John Jardine and William Roache, supporting artiste Adam Blease and the sponsorship of Manchester’s Daisy Nook Garden Centre the hospice have put together two filmed events which look back at Corrie’s 60 years and tells the story of the show’s local connections, visits several classic filming locations, and reveals the stories of the actors behind classic characters including Phyllis and Percy, Bet and Alec, Jack and Vera and Betty.
Karen Houlston said: “It is amazing so rather than just showing it to our existing supporters we are hoping that Corrie fans around the world will make a donation and download the film to watch at home wherever they are. Every penny will go to providing palliative care and to support those in our community with other long-term issues such as dementia. We can’t thank people enough – Corrie fans are definitely streets ahead!”
Details of how to download the film, which will be available to watch from 9th December (Coronation Street’s 60th birthday) will be shown on the charity’s website (willowwood.info) and other social media platforms.
Glenda Young
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