Friends back charity bash

A FAMILIAR face to TV soap fans in Oldham has organised a star-studded charity night with a little help from his celebrity friends.

Former Failsworth School pupil Daniel Jillings has appeared in hit shows such as “Doctors” and “The Royal”, and he recently became the first person to appear in “Emmerdale” and “Coronation Street” on the same night.

The 28-year-old actor has now called on his soapstar mates to join him at a sell-out dinner in Manchester on Saturday to raise money for the Shannon Bradshaw Trust, a charity helping children with life-threatening conditions.

Daniel has been playing football with a celebrity squad of players as part of his fundraising efforts, with his team mates including fellow Oldhamer Kelvin Fletcher, of “Emmerdale”, and “Shameless” twins Luke and Elliot Tittensor .

As a post-season celebration the lads are joining up for a glitzy dinner with over 200 others in the hope of raising thousands of pounds.

Money raised at the dinner at the Victoria and Albert Marriott Hotel will be used to buy a caravan to provide a getaway for families supported by the charity.

Daniel said: “I think I feel the need to give something back, I’m doing a job I absolutely love and I work with some decent lads.

“What better way to use that position than do something for charity.”

Daniel, who lived in Failsworth, has just finished filming his latest role in “Casualty”, due to be aired in January.

He said: “If you look at Oldham a lot of really good quality actors come from here, actresses like Suranne Jones who I worked with last year.

“There must be something in the water here. It just shows that if you want to do something, you can achieve it.”