AN EVENWOOD woman is hoping to raise plenty of money as well as awareness of suicide, the single biggest killer in men under 45, when she hosts a fun day in the village today (Saturday, August 4).
Shannon Howe was 14 when her brother, Christopher, known by his friends at Ditty, took his own life. Ms Howe, now 22, said it has taken this long to come to terms with her brother’s death and she says she still “misses him every single day” .
She hopes by organising the fun day it will not only raise vital funds for the Campaign Against Living Miserably, an award-winning charity which is dedicated to preventing male suicide, but awareness too.
Ms Howe said: “I just don’t want anyone to have to go through what my family and I did. We still don’t understand why he did it. He was always such a jolly person; a real lad’s lad.”
The fun day will be held on the green adjacent to St Paul’s church between 1.30pm and 4.30pm on Saturday, August 4.
There will be bouncy castles, a set of stocks which they hope to persuade the local PCSO to be pelted with by wet sponges, tombola and raffles.
Ms Howe and her friend, Zoe Taylor, who has been helping organise the event, are hoping to persuade television personality Scarlet Moffatt, who lives in nearby Toft Hill, to open the event.
In the evening there will be a disco with karaoke from 7pm until midnight in the Castle Inn, where there will be sponsored waxing. Many of Ditty’s friends have already come forward to offer parts of their bodies to be waxed to help raise money and a laugh.
Ms Howe added: “Ditty was such a big football fan and he did teach a lot of lads in the village to play.
He loved Manchester United, so we’ve had t-shirts made with their logo on the front and a photograph of him on the back.”
These special ‘Ditty’ t-shirts will be on sale during the afternoon and evening and the profits from sales will all go to the charity.
