Floods of Laughter comedy events raise £4,000 for flood victims

Floods of Laughter comedy night in Littleborough

Floods of Laughter comedy events held in Norden and Littleborough have raised nearly £4,000 for flood victims.

Gaye Jones who organised the Norden event said: “It was a really good night. We had a packed room and had about 200 people come. Between our event in Norden and the Littleborough event, we raised nearly £4,000 which I am really pleased with. When I first started organising it, I would have been happy with 80 people and £500 but in the end it was a really great night and we raised over £1,500.”

The Norden comedy night saw performances from six comedians who gave up their time for free. As well as performances from the stand-up comedians, a raffle was held to raise further funds.

“People were so generous and the raffle was huge. I thought I was going to be there all night with the amount of prizes that we had,” added Gaye.

Money raised from the Norden event will now go towards helping small independent businesses get back on track following the Boxing Day floods.

“I used to have my own business so I can’t imagine what they are going through,” said Gaye. “Some of them may have read the clauses in their insurance and be worrying about what to do next, so the money we raised will be going towards a fund for those businesses to get themselves back on track and up and running again.”

At Littleborough Cricket Club, nine comedians took to the stage, with the help of comedian and compère for the night Big Lou.

Organiser Rick Attwood said: “It was brilliant and we were near enough full to capacity. We are hoping to have reached the £2,200 mark by the time everything has been raffled and auctioned off. Overall it was a really good night and it was a real community event.”

As well as the comedians, a huge raffle was held, which Rick states still needs to be finished.

He added: “We had all sorts of prizes from duvets to electrical items to things like toiletries and socks because I think people had really thought about the prizes and went out to buy things people needed. We still have some stuff that needs to be raffled off because it was that big.”

Money raised from the Littleborough event will be put in a collection held by Littleborough Lions to help anyone in Littleborough who has been affected by the floods.

Rick added: “All of the money raised in Littleborough will be staying in Littleborough and helping those affected. I think with the donation from the comedy night, the Lions have over £5,000 so that will be going out to those who need it.”