Published at 13:25, Saturday, 06 October 2012

A charity fun day at Carlisle’s Border Reiver pub raised £750 for meningitis charities and the county’s air ambulance.

Reconnected with Olivia Story and Conor Locke

The family event featured boy band and Britain’s Got Talent finalists ReConnected.

Organiser and local entertainer Micky Diamond, whose own son Conor Locke survived meningitis at the age of one, split the proceeds between the Olivia Story Trust, Meningitis UK and Cumbria’s Great North Air Ambulance.

Some of it will be used to help pay for realistic prosthetic limbs for the eight-year-old, from Carlisle, who lost both legs and an arm to meningitis when she was a toddler.

The rest will go to support the work of the Pride of Cumbria air ambulance and Meningitis UK, which raises awareness and funds research into the deadly disease.

The Holmrook Road pub agreed to host the fun day following its success the previous year. Entry was free but donations – totalling £520 – were collected on the day.

A further £100 was raised by face painter Jelli Nelli, while the rest has been generated from sales of Micky Diamond’s CD Always and Forever.

The outdoor stage featured a performance from ReConnected, who are now managed by entrepreneur and Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne.

The group was formed from the boy band, Connected – a finalist in the ITV reality talent show in 2010 – and includes Harry Mondryk, 15, Max Mondryk, 18, and 15-year-old Matthew Fitzgerald.

Joining them on the bill were Kelvin Wood (the Mass), Mikey Bromley, Wayne O’Neil, Courtney O’Neil, rock band Deadliest Sin, Band X and Micky Diamond himself.

Speaking afterwards, Micky – real name Mick Locke – thanked all of the performers, organisers, pub staff and stall holders for their support.

Copies of the Always and Forever CD are still available with proceeds continuing to go to charity. They cost £6 each. Call 07926 530200.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk