Legendary Teesside comic Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown has handed over cash to help the homeless in support of Benidorm star Crissy Rock’s first ‘Dry Bar’.
The pair met on Teesside at a surprise 70th birthday party for Roy this week.
Crissy revealed on the night to Roy’s family and friends it was Middlesbrough-born Roy who had inspired her to be a comic.
She told how in the early 1990s she saw Chubby perform stand up at the The Liverpool Empire, and was so impressed that she waited outside to meet him.
They struck up a friendship which has lasted to this day - with Roy helping to guide Crissy’s career.
Crissy, who plays hotel boss Janey on ITV sitcom Benidorm, said: “Roy has been a great loyal friend to me and he has promised to back me.
“He is very kind and he gave me a cash donation with which I will buy some bedding and furniture for the people currently in the accommodation above the bar, and pay for extra heating in these bitterly cold days - they are homeless and are in need of help and some TLC.”
She said she had been overwhelmed by the response to the news broken in the Sunday Sun last week she intended to open a ‘Dry Bar’ called ‘Just The Tonic’ in Whitley Bay.
Inspired by her own personal battles with alcoholism and depression, the bar on the site of the former Bar Ocean, on South Parade, will help alcoholics and homeless people in the town by giving them a place they can meet for a non-alcoholic drink.
She said: “Following the appearance of the story, the news went viral with thousands of people sharing it across social media.
“TV and radio have also picked up on it, and following my appearances I am more certain now that ever that we really do need such a place.
“The plan would involve not just a dry bar, but so many other things - a place to shelter, a place to shower and somewhere that people could you have facilities like laptops giving people links to rebuild shattered lives after going through a dark period.
“Or it could even help those still stuck in those desperately difficult dark periods that life can bring, in just the blink of an eye.
“I have received some wonderful offers of support and I know my great pal Ricky Tomlinson and many members of the TV show Benidorm have also contacted me this week to offer help and support to the proposed plan.”
Roy said: “Crissy is a real fighter for the underdogs and I have no doubt that she will make a real go of this.
“We all hit those tough times, and some of us have the good fortune of being able to bounce back quicker that others.
“I was only too pleased to give Crissy a donation to help buy some warmer bedding and pump some heat in the accommodation that shelters the homeless in these freezing cold days.
“I can only wish them well and others acing difficult times in our region many brighter days ahead. I will certainly be in Crissy’s corner as I know her heart is in the right place - she is a wonderful person, always giving.”
Crissy revealed her plans for the former Whitley Bay bar two months after a homeless alcoholic was found dead in the town.
Darren Robson’s body was found after a fire in a bin store in the town centre during the early hours of Friday November 21.
The 43-year-old’s best friend Chris Parker said he believed his alcoholic pal, who had been sleeping rough amongst the bins for some time, would have burned to death after lighting a fire to keep warm.
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