Vicar of Dibley co-writer and stand-up comedian Paul Mayhew-Archer, has raised more than £10,000 for parkinson's and cancer charities.

Mr Mayhew-Archer, MBE has lived in Abingdon since 1976 and he recently hosted two comedy evenings at the Abbey Cinema, Abingdon, to raise funds for charities Cure Parkinson’s and Maggie’s. He has raised over £10,000 to be split between the two. The money will be handed over to the charities on tomorrow at the cinema.

Almost 450 people packed out the Abbey Cinema across the show’s two evenings.

His stand-up set included material from his one-man show, ‘Incurable Optimist’, as well as new material focusing on life in lockdown.

At the show audience members bid on auction prizes which included a portrait from a local artist, memorabilia signed by the Vicar of Dibley herself Dawn French, and rugby jerseys signed by England rugby player Mike Tindall.

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In 2011, the Vicar of Dibley co-writer was diagnosed with Parkinsons and he has since raised awareness of the condition.

In 2017 he started doing stand-up comedy about Parkinson’s, beginning in the Royal Albert Hall and eventually his own one-man show, ‘Incurable Optimist’, was born, which saw a hugely successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe a UK-wide tour.

Mr Mayhew-Archer is a patron of Cure Parkinson’s, a charity dedicated to finding a cure for the condition. He is also heavily involved with his local Parkinson’s group in Oxford. He takes part in research carried out by the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre and attends exercise and dance classes for people with the condition.

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He said: "I love Maggie’s, the cancer support charity, because of the wonderful atmosphere in the centres. It is a charity that truly understands the therapeutic power of laughter and I wish there had been a Maggie’s when my mum had cancer.

"I love Cure Parkinson’s for rather more selfish reasons. Although the illness keeps providing me with new material I’d quite like it to go away now.

He added: "I’m deeply grateful to the Wipers and everyone at the cinema for providing the venue, helping in every way and selling all the tickets, I‘m incredibly grateful to the 440 lovely people who bought the tickets and laughed and laughed, and I am insanely grateful to the band of lunatics who bought the auction items."

On September 17 and 24 , Mr Mayhew-Archer's sell-out evenings also raised funds for Maggie’s, a cancer support charity. Mr Mayhew-Archer lost his mother to cancer when he was 20 years old.

In 2020, Paul was awarded an MBE for his services to people with Parkinson’s and cancer.

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