SPOOKS star Peter Firth's appearance at a fundraiser helped to raise more than £1,000 for a cancer charity that has helped his cousin.
Josephine Dixon, 77, has suffered from bowel cancer for more than a year and arranged the charity night at Lucarly's on Wednesday to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support – because nurses have helped her "no end", she said.
And to stir up some interest, she invited her cousin Peter Firth, star of hit BBC drama Spooks, which has been on our TV screens for more than a decade.
But Peter made sure he wasn't the only celebrity in the building, bringing along his oldest friend Alexandra Pigg, co-star in 80s film Letter To Brezhnev, who first came to prominence as Brookside's Petra Taylor in 1982.
Peter said: "It was a fantastic night for a brilliant charity that has done an awful lot for my cousin and millions of other people across the country.
"Their creed is that no one should face cancer alone and I couldn't agree more, which is why I wanted to support the event."
And the star-studded cast paid off for Macmillan – Josephine has not collected all the money in yet but knows it has raised more than £1,000.
She said: "It was such a wonderful night – it made me so proud that so many people had come to support the cause.
"There were some big Spooks fans who came to see Peter and they were really pleased to meet him.
"I'm just glad that he came to support me so I could do something for the Macmillan nurses after they have done so much for me.
"When you get cancer, you don't know what to do but they sort everything out for you, which makes things that little bit easier.
"I can't say enough good things about them, nothing is too much trouble."
The money was raised by charging £1 on the door, selling raffle tickets and auctioning off two flights to Scotland – raising £120.
And Cleethorpes Cancer Support Group, which has a shop in Sea View Street, Cleethorpes, were so impressed by the efforts of Josephine that they donated £500 to the fund.
Voluntary shop manager and trustee Lynn Wedlake said: "We heard about Josephine through her sister Brenda Bradley, who has been a volunteer with us for three years.
"And when we found out that this lady, who is so poorly, was going to all this effort to throw such a big night, we wanted to help.
"I have seen her cousin Peter in Spooks because my husband is a big fan and he was great company and very polite to everyone."
"Reading out the raffle prizes can be a bit of a dull job but he certainly made the process very exciting."
