Funds raised like greased lightning!

MEMBERS of amateur theatre company Congress Players have presented the £4,000 raised by last year’s production of “Grease” to charity Reuben’s Retreat.

Money raised by this week’s production of comedy musical “Avenue Q” - which runs from tomorrow until Saturday at Oldham Coliseum - will also go to Reuben’s Retreat, formed by Mike and Nicola Graham, whose 23-month-old son Reuben died in 2012 of a rare and aggressive cancer.

The charity aims to provide a retreat in Tameside for children suffering with cancer and hopes to raise £1 million in two years.

Congress Players’ chairman Paul Osbaldiston said: “This is a great amount of money to present to a charity close to our heart. Some members knew Reuben personally.”

By last month Reuben’s Retreat had raised enough to buy premises. It now aims to raise the cash to convert the building and open in under three years.

Visit the website at www.coliseum.org.uk, the Coliseum box office or call 0161-624 2829 to buy tickets for the (slightly rude) former Broadway and West End hit musical.