A NIGHT of live stand-up comedy will bring top national acts to Hawes as part of a bid to raise £50,000 for a breast cancer charity.

Hosted by comedian and Everton football club MC, Jamie Sutherland, and starring Phoenix Nights' Steve Royle and Archie Kelly, the evening will be a highlight of the town’s summer celebrations.

Having already attracted national attention for community enterprises, including a filling station, bus service and post office, Hawes was the obvious choice for international events organiser Tippy Watson for the comedy evening.

With a soul night last autumn in Leyburn, several events in her home village of Askrigg and a sell-out Dales calendar which she produced while undergoing intensive medical treatment, she set out to bring first-rate comedy to the market town in aid of Breast Cancer Care.

“Everyone has been amazing in supporting the charity in the past year even though there are many calls on their generosity," she said. "The Market House will be a fantastic venue.”

Ms Watson and business partner, Simon, won the award for best event entertainment concept at the Special Events awards in New Orleans in February, the only British company nominated alongside hundreds of others worldwide, and the only one ever to have won twice.

The full line-up for the Market House evening is Jamie Sutherland, Steve Royle, Phoneix Nights, regular headline act at The Comedy Store and star of Channel 4’s Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere, Archie Kelly, also of Phoenix Nights and Jimmy McGovern’s the Street, and Paul Imrie, championed as “one to watch” by comedian, writer and actor Jason Mumford

The comedy night is on Friday, June 29, in the Market House in Hawes, all places seated. Doors open at 7pm, with the show running from 8-10.30pm with an interval. There will be a cash bar for wines, beers and soft drinks. Tickets, for those aged 18 and over only, are £13 or £15 at the door if available. They can be bought online at buytickets.at/hawescomedy, from Mason Bros, newsagents, in Hawes, or Sykes House, Askrigg. All proceeds will go to Breast Cancer Care.