21/02/2007 - EMMERDALE STAR URGES HOTEL GUESTS TO ‘DIG DEEP’ FOR NOTTS BREASTCARE CHARITY

MORE than 100 guests – including Emmerdale star Lucy Pargeter – attended a special Beatles’ Night party to launch a Nottinghamshire hotel’s fight against cancer.

Staff at the Clumber Park Hotel have adopted the Bassetlaw Breastcare Appeal as their charity of the year – and the actress who plays Chastity Dingle in the popular TV soap helped the fund-raising campaign get off to a flying start.

She was the guest star at a special Beatles Night staged by the hotel – designed to commemorate the day more than 30 years ago when the Fab Four stopped off at its restaurant for lunch -  which helped raise £500.

Lucy helped boost the total personally by auctioning off the star prize that she won in the night’s fund-raising raffle – tickets to see Meat Loaf at Sheffield Arena.  By foregoing the tickets in aid of the charity, she managed to raise an extra £100 when they came under the hammer.

More than 100 people attended the fund-raising night – the first in a series of themed evenings that the hotel is promoting throughout 2007.  The next is a Sportsman’s Dinner on March 28.

Derek Macdonald, co-owner of the Clumber Park Hotel, which is currently undergoing a multi-million pound redevelopment, said: “As a key member of the local community, we want to do whatever we can to support this appeal.  By making it our charity of the year, and with our bank matching our efforts Pound for Pound, we hope to be able to hand over a significant amount by the end of the year.

“We all know someone who has suffered from breast cancer – be it a family member, a friend, a work colleague or a neighbour.

“Anything that improves the diagnosis, care and treatment of women with suspected breast cancer has to be welcomed, and we hope that our efforts will in some way support the marvellous work of our local doctors and nurses.”

Such was the positive response to the Beatles’ Night – launched in response to public demand to celebrate Paul, John, Ringo and George’s secret visit back in the 1960s – that a follow-up event has already been arranged for Friday April 13.

More than 100 people attended the hotel for the event, which boasted a Beatles-themed menu based on all their top hits and a host of their best-known tracks to which revellers dances the night away.