VARIETY CLUB TRIBUTE DINNER
A dinner was held by the Variety Club of Great Britain at the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool, on Monday 15 November 2004, to celebrate Billy Fury's huge contribution to music and to raise money for a Sunshine Coach for Capenhurst School, Wirral.
The event was a sell-out within a very short time and indeed could have been sold twice over, setting a record for any Variety Club dinner.
The tables were decorated with balloons anchored by Variety club hearts and the name BILLY FURY was spelled out in huge gold balloons over the top table.
The evening was hosted by Billy Butler with guest speakers, Joe Brown, P.J.Proby, Jess Conrad, Vince Eager, Tommy Bruce, Maggie Stredder (Vernons Girls), and Tommy Hatton (Fourmost and longtime friend of Billy). Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde and Michael Winner gave their tributes via video shown on a large screen. The guests of honour were Billy's Mum Jean and brother Albie who spoke about Billy as a beloved son and brother. They were presented with an inscribed silver plate and a glass award to mark the evening.
During the dinner there was entertainment from a number of artistes accompanied by slides of Billy and friends on the big screen. Then there was an auction and raffle followed by dancing.
The evening was topped off to much delight by an impromptu performance by Albie singing a number of Billy favourites and sounding so much like his brother.
Hopefully the Variety Club will repeat the evening as, due to the continuing support for Billy Fury, they are assured of another overwhelming success.
Following the event, at Vince Eager's suggestion, there was an appeal on the billyfury.com site for donations to equip the coach with a CD player. The appeal closed on November 27, 2004 with a grand total of £233.39 which shows the generosity of Billy Fury fans.
