Twelve entrants have now been chosen for the Furness Charity Challenge final at the Lancaster Grand Theatre on January 21st 2012 when they will take to the stage to win a share of more than £3,000 in cash prizes for their chosen charities.
The competition organised by Furness Building Society in conjunction with the North West Evening Mail, Lancashire Evening Post and Bolton News, challenges talented local charity supporters to step up and represent their good cause.
The charities represented by singers, dancers and musicians from across the North West are: the Trinity Hospice Blackpool, Daisy UK (sport for the disabled), Headway (the brain injury association), Baines School at Lytham-St-Annes, Lancashire Boys and Girls Clubs, Multiple Sclerosis Society UK, British Heart Foundation, Animal Refuge Furness, the Alice Pyne Bone Marrow Recruitment Appeal, Jayde’s Charity (supporting 8-years-old Jayde Davies who suffered severe brain damage in a road accident earlier this year), the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation (Doreen Mallalieu Tribute Fund), and the Campaign to Save Theatre Church (CATS).
The finalists will compete for prizes of £1,000 for first place, £750 for second place, and £500 for third place, with £100 for each of the other finalists so that all of the charities represented on stage will benefit. The Charity Challenge final starts at 7.00pm. Tickets are £7 each and available through the Grand Theatre box office tel 01524 64695 or visit www.lancastergrand.co.uk .
Sarah Wane, Marketing Support Manager for the Furness says: “The response to the competition has been brilliant and it left the judges with an incredibly tough job to select the 12 finalists from the many excellent performances uploaded onto the website.
“Now the finalists have been selected we hope the charity supporters will really get behind them and turn out at the Lancaster Grand Theatre on January 21st to cheer them on.
The aim of Charity Challenge is to make everyone more aware of the need to support charities in the current tough economic climate, and the final will be a fantastic night of fun and entertainment. “
Furness Building Society prides itself on supporting local charities and has more than 20 affinity accounts linked to good causes. The affinity accounts offer customers an attractive return on their savings whilst the Society makes an annual cash payment from its own funds to the charity, based on the total amount in all accounts for that charity. As a result last year the Furness paid out more than £360,000 to affinity partners.
Sarah adds: “Our affinity accounts work on the simple basis of ‘You Save, We Give’, and we are looking forward to giving out the cash prizes at the Grand Final.”
To get a flavour of the competition check out the video clip from last year's final show.