28/12/2015

News: Generous Geordies donate over 5000 children’s Christmas presents at Laffs4Kids charity comedy night!




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Generous Geordies donate over 5000 children’s Christmas presents at Laffs4Kids charity comedy night!

Newcastle’s Tyne Theatre & Opera House had great pleasure in announcing that the Saturday 19th December’s comedy bonanza Laffs4Kids was a huge success, with over 5000 children’s Christmas presents donated to Metro Radio’s Cash for Kids campaign.

Photo: Kevin Duffy
Thanks to the staggering generosity of everyone who attended the event at Tyne Theatre & Opera House, thousands of less fortunate children across the North East had a Christmas present to open on Christmas Day.

Organized by local comedian Jason Cook, the premise was simple: instead of paying for admission, bring an unwrapped Christmas present for a child. With just over 1000 tickets issued yet over 5000 presents collected, the people of the North East certainly delivered.

With Jason Cook himself introducing the acts, a whole host of local comedy heroes took to the stage to provide a sleigh-load of laughs, including Chris Ramsey, Steffen Peddie, Alfie Joey, Scott Tyrrell, Kai Humphries and Carl Hutchinson.

Bringing the brilliant evening to an end was Lindisfarne’s Billy Mitchell with a rousing rendition of the Lindisfarne classic Run For Home that had the whole auditorium singing along.

Theatre Director Joanne Johnson says: “We’re so proud here at Tyne Theatre & Opera House to have been able to support such a fantastic event for Cash for Kids. Jason’s idea was excellent and we’re thrilled he chose Tyne Theatre to host Laffs4Kids. The amount of presents donated is absolutely overwhelming and the night itself was incredible; the perfect way to celebrate the festive season and a successful year for us.”

Organiser and comedian Jason Cook says: “I'm so proud of everyone involved in Laffs4Kids, both performers and audience alike. The performers agreed within minutes of being asked and gave it their all on the night, and the audience sold the place out in a matter of days and although we set the price of admission at just one present, that was a rarity, with most people bringing carrier bags full of gifts to get us to over 5000 gifts. It was quite stressful for me on the night just making sure everyone was where they needed to be and we were running to time, but once I got home and thought about what all of us, both sides of the stage, had achieved I must admit I shed a tear or two at the innate kindness of the Geordie people.”


The Tyne Theatre & Opera House Box Office is open 10am-3:30pmMonday to Friday and event days
Booking and Information Line: 0844 2491 000 (10am – 6pmMonday to Friday)
Theatre Address: 109 – 119 Westgate Road, Newcastle, NE1 4AG




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