Al Murray and daughter Willow May play free charity show on Saturday

Al Murray
(Image credit: Future)

Comedian and Prog Awards host Al Murray will be performing a free live show this Saturday with his daughter Willow May in an effort to raise money for the DKMS  blood stem cell register.

"I promise you she is really, really good, plus we have a song in multiple time signatures for prog reasons," Murray tells Prog. "It's in aid of DKMS, the blood stem cell register, because my nephew Finley is very sick with a rare blood cancer right now, and we want to raise awareness/quids for the charity."

Murray's six-year old nephew Finley was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of childhood leukaemia and urgently needed a blood stem cell transplant to survive.

"He found his match, and whilst he is not out of the woods just yet, he is still here - and this is all thanks to his anonymous blood stem cell hero. We can’t thank this beautiful human being enough for doing something so selfless for someone they’ve never met."

Murray has been campaigning to get people to register with DKMS. "But all this costs the charity money," he says. "It’s  £40 to register just one person, so we have been taking opportunities to raise much needed funds for DKMS to help continue their lifesaving work. We’re hoping to raise £3,000 for the charity, which will pay for 75 people to register as potential blood stem cell donors. Every penny counts!"

The concert will air via the DKMS YouTube channel and Facebook page at 7pm on Saturday December 5. A GoFundMe page has been set up where you can make donations.

Jerry Ewing

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.