A cancer support charity for which the late Merseybeat musician Gerry Marsden was a patron of is continuing to provide support and care for those in the community diagnosed with the disease.
The Holistic Cancer Centre was chosen as the donor for Sunday’s Cavern Mecca reunion gig at the Cavern Club on Mathew Street. It took place in the club’s Live Lounge.
Cavern Club Director Jon Keats said: “We were delighted to host another Cavern Mecca reunion event.
“Always a great night and always for worthy causes. Very fitting this year that the chosen charity was Holistic Cancer Care, a charity supported by our very dear friend, the late Gerry Marsden. A huge thank you to everybody who organised, took part or supported this year’s show.”
Every year a different recipient is chosen to receive the funds “based on what is close to Julie [Sudbury]’s heart,” says Ed Harris, who opened the show with his band, ‘A Quo Stick’. The band’s name is a play on the 2014 studio album by Status Quo.
Cavern Mecca was the first Beatles Museum in the city to be established, opening in 1981, which is almost 20 years before the Albert Dock’s Beatles Story. It was situated on the corner of Mathew Street and Rainsford Square. After closing in 1984 following the declining health of founder Liz Hughes, the organisation seemingly disappeared until 2011, when the first reunion was held.
The so-far approximate £1700 raised at the event is to be received over the next few days, with more funds expected to be added to that number: “At the gig, a man said he wanted to increase that amount substantially,” said Holistic Cancer Care care manager Patsy Hummerston.
safe place in a difficult time
Merseybeat musician Gerry Marsden, of Gerry and the Pacemakers fame, was a patron of the charity until his death in January 2021.
The charity was established in 1988, and provides a “safe place in a difficult time” for those who have been diagnosed with cancer and their families.
The facility provides holistic treatments for patients, such as art classes and group counselling free of charge. “It’s a different type of treatment,” says Patsy Hummerston, “but we see great success.”
Feature image (c) Ruby Smith
