A MALDON man is organising a charity event in memory of his mum who died from ovarian cancer.

The event, which will take place at Oak House, in Maldon High Street, on August 5, in aid of Target Ovarian Cancer, will give residents the chance to take in live music, stand up comedy, and bid on signed merchandise from celebrities such as Ed Sheeran and Johnny Wilkinson.

It is being organised by Luke Thompson, 29, from Maldon, who lost his mum, Trish, to the cancer in April aged 62 after a two year battle with disease.

The charity helped to support Luke and his family throughout his mum’s illness, whilst they also focus on researching the disease and providing education to doctors to help diagnose it.

Luke explained: “My mum was diagnosed in January 2015. The charity help support hose that have the cancer whilst also providing the research to diagnose the problem early on.

“My mum’s cancer was diagnosed quite late, it is a common problem because the symptoms are often put down to various different things before cancer is considered.

“The motivation for organising this event was to turn what has been a huge negative into a positive and raise some money for a great charity that do fantastic work and doesn’t always get the recognition that some of the bigger charities do.”

The event will feature stand-up comedy and live music as well as an auction and a raffle.

Some of the items up for sale include a signed tour shirt and CD donated by Ed Sheeran, a signed DVD donated by World Cup winner Johnny Wilkinson, and signed golf merchandise donated by former world number one golfer Luke Donald.

Luke said: “It is going to be a great night. We have got some stand-up comedy going on, with a couple of local acts from Essex and then some more national names that have performed at Edinburgh Fringe as well.

“There will be some live music. We will have a fantastic auction with prizes donated by some huge names in sport and music.

“We have had a lot of support from local businesses as well which has been incredibly humbling. The Oak House have offered up free meal vouchers as part of a raffle giveaway.”

For Luke, this is the first part of a year of fundraising which will culminate in him running the London Marathon next year.

He hopes that by the end of the year he will have raised £6,000 for the Target Ovarian Cancer charity.

Tickets are available at a cost of £10 which includes a free customised plectrum and a free raffle ticket.

Tickets can be purchased from the Oak House or by emailing luke.thompson87@gmail.com.