A FUNDRAISING cabaret night is taking place next month for a charity which matches bone marrow donors to desperately ill patients.

The cabaret evening is taking place at The Troubadour in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, on Saturday, August 17.

The event is designed to raise money and awareness of the Anthony Nolan charity, which matches potential bone marrow donors to blood cancer patients in need of a transplant.

It will involve blues band the Lounge Lizards, tribute singer Anthony Monarch and magician Martin Waring, plus others who have donated their time for free.

The event has been organised by Paul Metcalfe, whose wife donated bone marrow which helped save the life of a Danish patient in need of a transplant.

Several years ago Mr Metcalfe raised several thousand pounds for Anthony Nolan by driving the entire length of the British coastline.

He said: “You go on the register and if a match comes up, and you still want to donate, then you can.

“Donating bone marrow is much easier than it used to be, it used to involve an operation, but now it’s done rather like dialysis; blood goes out one arm, through a machine which harvests the white cells then back in the other arm, more or less.

“But they still need people to go on the register, so we need to raise awareness.”

Tickets, £5, are available from The Golden Lion Hotel in Northallerton. Doors open at The Troubadour 8pm for an 8.30pm start on August 17.