Daughter sets up comedy night fundraiser in Northampton after her dad's terminal bowel cancer diagnosis

A former Northampton resident is hosting a comedy night at a local pub this week to raise funds for Bowel Cancer UK, following her dad's terminal diagnosis.

Theresa Warner-Jones, 33, formerly from Abington, is hosting a comedy night at the Charles Bradlaugh Pub in Northampton on Sunday, October 3 to raise money for Bowel Cancer UK and the Northamptonshire Health Charity.

The cause is very important to Theresa as her dad, David Jones - a former psychiatric nurse at Northampton General Hospital - was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in May 2020 at the age of 60. He has since been undergoing treatment at Northampton General Hospital's Oncology Unit and he - along with his family, want to do what they can to help others living with bowel cancer.

Theresa, talking about her dad's diagnosis last year, said: "For me, it was quite out of the blue. My dad will say that things were going on in the background but, again, being a typical man, not getting things checked out until it sorted of escalated and I think - especially with the terminal diagnosis - you hear cancer and - I am quite a positive person - and you just think, well, that's fine, a lot of cancers are curable and we're going to get through this. Yes, it's going to be hard and we are going to have ups and downs but we will get through it and I think, when someone says oh yeah... no, that's not going to be an option for you and your family... it's coming to terms with it. It's difficult."

Theresa continued: "At times, it comes into your mind and I think these sort of events help to channel the ups and downs into something very productive. I am quite a passionate person anyway but it's directing that mess and that energy that it could zap up into something more productive and positive for others and it's probably pulled me and my dad closer together by organising something and it's almost been part of a healing process."

Her dad, David, has received help from both the NHS and Bowel Cancer UK, who provide information and support to those affected by bowel cancer and are committed to funding research that improves the prevention, early detection and treatment of the disease.

The comedy show, on Sunday, will feature four top circuit comedians, Will Duggan, Jamie Souva, Sam Rhodes and Duncan Oakley. They have given their services for free so that all money raised will go to Bowel Cancer UK and Northampton General Hospital's Oncology Unit.

Will Duggan has been nominated for several comedy awards and had numerous successful shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. Jamie D’Souva was shortlisted for the BBC New Comedy Award and was the runner up at Hastings Fringe New Comedian of the Year. The British Comedy Guide described Sam Rhodes as, "one of the most innovative musical comedians out there," and he has appeared on the BBC and Amazon Prime. Duncan Oakley has made appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and on BBC Radio 4.

Theresa, talking about the event, added: "For me, it's like why not have a laugh? We can all sit there and be mundane about things but, you know, let's just have a laugh and raise some money while we are doing it."

According to Bowel Cancer UK, someone is diagnosed with bowel cancer every 15 minutes. This amounts to over 42,000 every year.

Director of fundraising at Bowel Cancer UK, Luke Squires, said: "We’re over the moon that David is hosting a comedy night in aid of Bowel Cancer UK. It’s only because of people like David and the generosity of everyone attending we can continue to fund research and improve the quality of life of everyone affected by bowel cancer.”

The doors to the live stand-up comedy event will open at 7pm with the show commencing at 8pm.

Tickets cost £8 and are available to purchase now on the See Tickets website. Donations can be made to David Jones' JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/David-Jones319.