Hollywood stars heading to Suffolk?

Laurence Cawley

HOLLYWOOD stars Helena Bonham Carter and Bill Nighy could be giving readings at a charity concert in Suffolk.

Long Melford's Christmas carol concert is entering its fourth year and this year boasts the King's Singers from King's College, Cambridge.

Organisers yesterday revealed the actor Philip Jackson would be attending and said invitations had also been sent out to both Mr Nighy and Ms Bonham Carter.

It is hoped they will be able to attend and to give biblical readings during the concert.

Money raised by the event, held at Holy Trinity Church next month, goes to the Sudbury-based charity Success After Stroke (SAS), a charity which supports those recovering from a stroke and which runs the candlelit concert.

Barbara Slade, who with Viv Bourne has organised the concert for SAS, said: “We have invited them to come and give a reading and we hope that unless something else comes up they will be able to come. We have got the actor Philip Jackson.

“The concert has done very well all the other years it has run.”

The organisers' beeline to Hollywood stars has come about as a result of Mrs Bourne's daughter, who runs a voiceover agency in London.

Mr Jackson is best known for his role as Inspector Japp in Poirot and has appeared in a number of other shows including A Touch of Frost, Foyle's War and the 1970s film Scum.

Golden Globe-winning Mr Nighy starred in Pirates of the Caribbean, The Constant Gardener and Love Actually, while Ms Bonham Carter appeared in Sweeney Todd and alongside Brad Pitt in Fight Club.

SAS meets at The Stevenson Centre in Great Cornard and offers a range of services including speech therapy and physiotherapy.

Tickets for the concert, which takes place at 7pm on December 11, cost £12.50 and are available from Holy Trinity Church, The Bridge Project in Gainsborough Street, Sudbury, Boxford Stores and from Viv Bourne on 01787 211060 and Barbara Slade on 01787 222123.