Jack Daniels

I started the charity when fellow musician and friend Steve Charles could not afford £5000 to fund private treatment as a last chance help for his throat cancer. I thought it was sad, that a man who had given the town so much with his music could not be helped because of money.

I started a Charity called Help a Friend Help a Friend, where I asked all of my friends to help me to help another of my friends even though they did not know them.

I raised the £5000 needed and sent Steve off to London for the treatment. The consultant said that the additional treatment gave Steve and extra few months of life, but was unable to stop the rot that is cancer spreading and we lost Steve in June 2010.

I renamed the Charity "The Steve Charles Help a Friend Fund" known locally as just "Help a Friend", in memory of Steve so that nobody should not be helped to live longer, if we can help them.

Other recent help we have given has been to a Dorchester lady who through our help probably lived 6 months more than without our help (we funded £3000 for treatment). We also helped another Dorchester lady with breast cancer to fund her trips to Poole Hospital for treatment (£400 travel allowance).

We are at present just starting a campaign to fund a Dorchester family who’s 5 year old daughter suffered a stroke and will be in Southampton Hospital for up to 3 months. Again we will try and help them with petrol, parking & food for their daily trips to Southampton Hospital (we think around £3000).

So you can see, although we are a small and relatively unknown charity, we do help where we can to make people’s lives better

Last Christmas a very drunk man challenged me by saying that although I always ask people to put themselves out for the charity, I never put myself out and always arrange events within my comfort zone of music and entertainment. He had a very valid point so I started thinking...I hate walking, heights, camping and hills, so what would be a massive personal challenge for me?

I am climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with some friends next January to raise the profile of the charity and hopefully raise some funds.

Let’s hope I bump into that drunk man again...

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