Top gags raise cash for Yorkhill

Wednesday, 15 June 2011 08:45

RESPONSE's first ever comedy night raises over £2000 for Yorkhill

RESPONSE staff have raised more than £2,300 for Yorkhill Children’s Foundation by hosting its first ever comedy night in Walkabout’s Highlight Comedy Club in Glasgow, which involved two of Scotland’s biggest names in comedy.

‘Teddy’ who has appeared on The Karen Dunbar Show and MacAulay & Co joined Raymond Mearns known for his performances on Rab C Nesbitt to carry out some of their new sketches reducing the 200 strong audience to tears of laughter as they shared their latest gags.  Supporting acts, Darren Connell and Eddie Cassidy also took part in the comedy show, which is set to become an annual event.

RESPONSE’s own rising star Scott Gibson also took to the stage. The sales specialist, joined RESPONSE in 2010, and has now been touring the comedy circuit for the last seven months, performing around 50 gigs. He has been lucky enough to join with some of the biggest names on the Scottish comedy scene including Garry Lottle, Mark Nelson, Jim Muir, and Raymond Mearns. Having completed a course at the Glasgow MET College run by Charlie Ross, this has given him the confidence to get on stage and make people laugh.

The comedy event helped to significantly boost the company’s fundraising efforts, taking the total to over £12,500. Over the next few months, RESPONSE hopes to reach the £20,000 milestone for Yorkhill Children’s Foundation, which is based at the hospital. The money raised will help pay for in-patient simultaneous EEG/Video telemetry equipment, which is used to help diagnose children with epilepsy, one of the most common, serious neurological disorders of childhood.

Brian Bannatyne, Managing Director of RESPONSE, said: “The event was a huge success and it was great to see established talent, as well as up and coming comedians share the stage and bring a few smiles and laughs to the crowd. I hope we can build on the success of this year’s event and spread the word to make the 2012 comedy show an even bigger and better event.

“Our fundraising team has also made great progress and the money raised will help go a long way to provide the services delivered by the Yorkhill Children’s Foundation. Let’s hope that over the next few months we can give one final push so we can reach our targets and help what is a very worthwhile charity close to the hearts of many.”

David Welch, Head of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications at Yorkhill Children’s Foundation, said:

“The team at Yorkhill Children’s Foundation continues to be amazed and delighted at the fundraising success achieved by RESPONSE employees. To have raised such a huge amount of money at their first ever comedy night is fantastic and we have no doubt that they will easily reach their £20,000 fundraising target over the next few months. This money will make a significant difference to the lives of the hundreds of thousands of children who are treated at Yorkhill Hospital every year.”