Look To The Stars News: Richard Hammond

Children In Need Concert Makes History

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:30:00 -0000

British broadcasters Terry Wogan, Tess Daly, and Fearne Cotton hosted the annual BBC Children in Need charity concert on Friday, November 14.

The epic seven hour show featured performances from the Sugababes, Boyzone, Leon Jackson, McFly, the Stereophonics, John Barrowman, Il Divo, Jason Donovan Russell Watson, Alesha Dixon, Razorlight, Sharleen Spiteri and many others. Girls Aloud also made a special appearance, and there were surprise contributions from Ozzy Osbourne, Jack Black, Will Young, Richard Hammond, and Stevie Wonder. Take That donated £250,000 from their ticket sales and a recent Marks and Spencer modeling deal.

But perhaps the funniest highlights of the night came from a performance of Abba hits from six BBC newsreaders. The cast of Eastenders also took to the stage for a song and dance.

A total of £20,991,216 had been raised at the end of the broadcast making it likely that donations could be higher than last year’s total of £37 million.

“I am completely overwhelmed by the way the country has come together in support of BBC Children in Need, demonstrating such generosity in these tough times, and I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone involved,“ said David Ramsden, BBC Children in Need chief executive. “We can now focus our attention on finding more great projects that can change young lives for the better.”

Stars To Attend Coma Patient's Gala

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

A gala to raise funds for charity in the name of a 17-year-old British coma patient will take place this Saturday.

Sophie Wilkinson has been in a coma since she was involved in a car accident last October, and her plight has attracted a wide range of celebrities to step forth and help raise the funds needed to provide her with care. Earlier this year her parents set up the Sophie’s Gift Fundraising Program on behalf of the Southampton Hospital Trust to raise the £250,000 (US$500,000) needed to provide Sophie with a Mobile CT Scanner. As well as receiving a video and words of encouragement from Johnny Depp, Sophie has also got support from the likes of Sharon Osbourne, Top Gear’s Richard Hammond, and Chris Tarrant.

Sophie’s parents, Andrew and Alison Wilkinson, have also established a database of celebrity voices to help wake up other coma patients. Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Amanda Holden are just some of the names who have already committed to the initiative.

The Sophie’s Gift Gala Dinner will take place on the 5th July at the Macdonald Botley Park Hotel, with proceeds to go to the Southampton Hospital Charity. Tickets are still available from www.sophies-gift.com for £65 each. Attendees can expect live entertainment and a spectacular auction and gala dinner, with several celebrities – such as Chris Tarrant and Mike Osman – scheduled to make an appearance.

Johnny Depp Gives Wake Up Call To Coma Sufferer

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:33:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

A 17-year-old British girl is showing the first signs of waking up from a coma, and her parents are now enlisting celebrities to help with a new charity to help others with the same problem.

Sophie Wilkinson has been in a coma since a horror car crash in November last year, and over the past few days she has started to become aware of what is going on around her, focusing on people, responding to voice commands and making vocalisations. Her parents, Andrew and Alison Wilkinson, are thrilled but say now is the crucial time to get their daughter listening to as many different voice recordings as possible to make sure she continues to improve, and have enlisted the help of several high profile celebrities to help them. And the response from famous voices has been so strong that the couple now want to start up a service for other coma sufferers.

Johnny Depp, Sharon Osbourne, and Top Gear’s Richard Hammond have all pledged their support for the initiative, and Depp also recorded a tape of physical commands for Sophie in the voice of his Pirates of the Caribbean character, Captain Jack Sparrow.

“When someone is in a coma, it’s important to find that key to unlocking them out of the coma,” said Alison Wilkinson. “It could be a smell, a sound, or a voice. In Sophie’s case we knew she was a huge fan of Johnny so we thought that if she heard his voice it may wake her. We realised what a great idea it would be to have a bank of celebrity voices reading out specific commands that the doctors have issued. No matter who a person’s favourite star is, their family could get a tape from our Wake Up bank. Nobody knows what the right key will be but anything is worth a try, and if we can make that easier for families in our situation it will be worth it.”

Andrew Wilkinson is also excited about the charity initiative idea: “We were over the moon when Johnny agreed to record a tape, and now more stars are signing up it’s fantastic. We have had lots of promises from people, but only a few have actually sent recordings. Now that Sophie is showing signs of responding to certain voices it’s the critical time to get her listening to as many different voices as possible. That is why our Wake Up charity is so important, because people in the future will not have to wait like we are at this vital time. Having all the voices in a bank will mean we can get them to the families quicker and celebrities only have to do one recording.”

The couple are also holding a special charity gala ball on July 5 at the Botley Park Hotel Golf and Country Club. Tickets can be purchased by contacting tickets@sophies-gift.com. More information can be found at www.sophies-gift.com.

Look To The Stars News: Richard Hammond

Children In Need Concert Makes History

Related past articles

Stars To Attend Coma Patient's Gala

Related past articles

Johnny Depp Gives Wake Up Call To Coma Sufferer

Related past articles