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29

Sept 2020

Last Updated: 29/09/2020

Harrogate charity Frank's Fund moves comedy night online

by Suzannah Rogerson

| 29 Sept, 2020
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Last year's comedy event raised £13,000 for the fund, which was set up in memory of 14-year-old St Aidan's schoolboy Frank Ashton, who died of a rare form of bone cancer. Covid has forced the closure of some fundraising events but supporters are getting creative.

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A comedy night, which raised £13,000 last year for a fund set up in memory of a 14-year-old Harrogate schoolboy, will be staged online this year.

Frank Ashton's family set up Frank's Fund to raise awareness and funds for Ewing's sarcoma, which is a rare form of bone cancer,

A comedy night at St Aidan's school in Harrogate last year raised over £13,000 for the fund, which has achieved total donations of £158,000 so far.

The comedian Maisie Adam, who like Frank attended St Aidan's, performed at the event and is a patron of the charity. This year's online event is set to go ahead before the end of the year although a date has yet to be confirmed.

The charity has missed several fundraising events this year due to Covid.

Supporters have found other ways to raise funds, such as running a marathon throughout the month of September.

Maisie Adam, who is among those running marathons, said:

"It's all about keeping Frank at the forefront of people's minds. I am devastated the plan isn't going ahead in Harrogate."




She added:

"What shocked me in particular is just how underfunded Ewing's sarcoma is. Everyone assumes when money is donated to big charities it is distributed evenly but it definitely isn't.
With Frank's Fund, all of the money goes to research for this disease."