DREAMMAKER CHARITY BOSS LES HOEY MBE SAYS I DO ON FEBRUARY 29

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Beverley Lyons 
DREAMMAKER charity boss Les Hoey MBE couldn’t believe it when his girlfriend of 38 years asked to marry him. 
Scots charity head Les, 58, who has helped to make thousands of dreams of critically ill children come true admits he was so shocked he burst out laughing when his girlfriend Mandy Cunningham proposed to him yesterday. 
Les, who was heartbroken when his son Darren Hoey was found dead in Edinburgh last year, admits he realised life was too short following the tragedy. 
He said: “It’s been thirty eight years Mandy and I have been going out and it’s just been one of those things we’ve left.”
Mandy, 57, a nurse, had returned home from night shift yesterday morning and decided to take advantage of the date - February 29 - a leap year when it is tradition for women to propose to their partners. 
Wishaw based Les said: “Mandy went to work last night and came in from the night shift with a What’s On Tv magazine which has the words ‘Marry Me’ on the front cover. It was in relation to a shock proposal from Coronation Street. Mandy waved the magazine in my face and said ‘Marry Me’ and I burst out laughing. O didn’t know what she was on about snd then it clicked. We’ve always thought about it with Darren dying because life is too short. I said yes and then Mandy went to bed because she’d been working all night. I’m really happy and can’t wait to celebrate with friends and family.”

Excerpts of this article have since appeared in the Daily Record. 

From Scotland with Love - theshowbizlion.com 

SCOTS CANCER TEEN GIVEN VIP TREATMENT AT NTA’s

Beverley Lyons 
A Scots teenager with brain cancer couldn’t believe  it when she was invited to the NTA’s as a guest of David Walliams and his team.
Thirteen year old Ellie Beattie went to London first class on the train, was chauffeur driven by limousine around London and was invited to the show as a VIP.
Ellie also received a personal message from David Walliams as well as video messages from Bradley Walsh and Ant and Dec on the trip, which was organised by Les Hoey MBE Dreammaker Charity. 
It was a real boost for the teenager who has been battling illness since she was seven when she first suffered from bad leg pains then headaches.
Ellie, who was taken into hospital in September 2017 and finally diagnosed with stage four metastatic pineo blastoma brain disease and leptomeningeal disease in May 2018, has had 32 doses of chemotherapy. 
Her mum Elaine said: “Ellie has been ill since she was seven and she’s really been put through the mill. She has had Bell’s palsy on her face, terrible headaches and lost her memory as the disease has spread. It’s been awful and she even ended up in a wheelchair after her chemotherapy. Her treatment finished in March 2019 when doctors had to cut it short because chemo nearly killed her. We are in a watch and wish situation now and she gets reassessed every three months. The disease is currently sleeping but it will get active again.”

Ellie, whose schooling has been interrupted by her illness, couldn’t believe it when Angela Cook from Les Hoey Dreammaker Charity got in touch to say she’d been invited down to the glitzy bash. 
She said: “It was amazing. I love David Walliams and have his book and couldn’t believe it when I got the random invite to the NTA’s. My mum had been talking to Les and the team about me and they invited me.  I got picked up by limo to go to the awards and when I was at the hotel I was gifted Gucci socks and given my note from David Walliams along with his book The Beast of Buckingham Palace. It said: ”Dearest Ellie I want you to know that I am thinking about you and sending you all my love.” He was too busy on the night hosting to say hello but I also got a video from Bradley Walsh as I’m a big fan of The Chase and he’s invited me down to the studios as his guest. Ant and  Dec also sent me a secret video  message too.”

Ellie was given VIP seats to the left of the stage where she and her mum could see the celebs up close as they went to pick up their awards. 

Elaine said: “We were on an aisle seat and we could see them coming down to go on the stage and shout down to them. When Tom Jones went by I said ‘What’s new pussy cat’ and he replied ‘Woah Woah Woah’.
Ellie reckons the whole experience made her forget about her illness for the evening. She said:  “The worst bit of my illness was being stuck in hospital  for months on end and this definitely made me feel happier than I have been.”
Les Hoey said: “This is the reason the charity was started. When these kids go to events like these they are the celebs.”

JOHNNY DEPP WEARS SPECIAL SCOTS BADGE OF HONOUR

Beverley Lyons
Johnny Depp wore a special badge with pride at his Scots gig after being presented with it backstage at the SSE Hydro.
The Edward Scissorhands and Pirates of the Caribbean  star and his Hollywood Vampire bandmates Alice Cooper and Joe Perry met up with Dreammaker Les Hoey and some sick kids from his charity during a special meet and greet.
Les presented them all with a badge of Mr Wizz, the special mascot of his charity for terminally ill and sick children in Scotland.
Johnny even asked Les to pin it on him so he could wear it on stage. 

Les said: “It’s a dream come true that Johnny wore the badge on stage during his performance. He met with some children on the night and was very interested to hear about the charity and work they we do.”
During his performance Johnny paid a tribute to David Bowie with the song Heroes as well as singing Jim
Carroll song People Who Died - about deceased friends.
He also told charity worker Les that his favourite whisky is a £1750 bottle of Bunnahabhain Canasta.

JUDY MURRAY, JO MALONE, TYSON FURY JOIN THE SHOWBIZ LION

Our chief Lionness Bev Lyons has started a new Showbiz and lifestyle column in conjunction with the Glasgow Evening Times. Here’s her first column!

THE LIONS SHARE
Hello and welcome to the first of my jaunts into the jungle we call life.
I’m currently in the midst of a housemove and as I don my old clothes and fill up the black bags it all seems so far away from the weekend when I got all dolled up to attend some swanky events in Glasgow.
Mind you, I temporarily swapped heels for big black boots as I traipsed across a snow topped town to head to the brilliant Action For Children Women of Influence Lunch at the Grand Central Hotel on Sunday.
Andy Murray’s famous mum Judy gave me a warm welcome and was on great form as she watched Elaine C Smith tell jokes and sing at the high powered bash which raised over £60,000 on the day.
Judy who won the award last year,  told me exclusively that Andy was ‘gagging’ to be back on court and had started hitting balls as he recovered from his injury. She said all a mother can want for her sons is for them to be fit and healthy.
She also talked about her recent ski holiday which gave her a bit of downtime in between all the chaos but admitted she’d unfortunately been ill for most of it with the dreaded lurgy.
Judy is always game for a laugh and she was chuffed to bits when comedian Elaine gave her a signed copy of the Glasgow Gruffalo in Weegie dialect for Andy’s eldest daughter Sophia.
It’s a pure belter of a book co written with Julia Donaldson.
The former Strictly star, whose own tome Knowing The Score, is about to be released on paperback, revealed that Elaine is an avid tennis player who plays regularly in Mount Vernon Club.
Judy donated generously to the event and also said she fancied bidding for TRNSMT and Scotfest music tickets in the auction but admitted they were on at the same time as the tennis season so couldn’t go.

WHAT EVERYONE IS GOING WILD FOR..
Jo Malone - the actual person not the product came to Glasgow’s Princes Square on Friday to meet with customers of her new fragrance line.
The perfume and candle legend has launched a new range called Jo Loves with Space NK and talked about how hard it was to take time out of the business when her company was bought over.
She also revealed she invented her new red dot logo herself after designers failed to come up with an appropriate graphic.
She’s back with a  new line of fragrance that comes with its own paintbrush attached - so you can literally paint yourself with a smell. I loved her White Rose and Lemon Leaves Gel with brush attached. She put it on me. It’s not everyday the woman behind the scent is your personal make up artist.


JUNGLE DRUMS
US comedy and Deuce Bigalow star Rob Schneider played Oran Mor last week and was staying at the Hilton Grosvenor. Rather than walk right across the road to the venue he ended up being chauffeur driven from one door to another - less than fifty metres away!


ROAR
TWO Doors Down’s and Rab C’s Elaine C Smith revealed she might be responsible for Nicola Sturgeon’s recent outfit changes.
Appearing at the Action For Children Women of Influence lunch she let slip that she mocked Nicola’s penchant for trouser suits in front of the First Minister herself.
She said: “I was saying how a wee wifie said she liked her but wasn’t sure about her trouser suits.  Nicola hasn’t worn her trouser suit since I did that gag when she was there.”

FEAST FOR THE BEAST
I popped along to the Sirens netball team game at the Emirates arena this week and enjoyed popcorn in the box.
It was my first time watching netball and I managed to make an appearance on Sky Sports after singer Sharon Martin who performs women in sport anthem Girl handed me a saltire to wave at the camera.
The popcorn was a sensible choice compared to the slightly odd dish brought by sporty MP For Livingston Hannah Bardell who hotfooted it to the game from the House of Commons bringing with her guacamole and cold sliced potato in a plastic tub. Apparently it’s a great energiser. Yummy?

THIS WEEK’S PRIDE
I met a whole load of little heroes this week alongside boxing champ Tyson Fury,  Dreammaker charity man Les Hoey MBE and generous FSG promotions boss Francis Gilluley.
Amongst the group of inspirational wee ones were Ben Beikie, 8,  from Lenzie who was diagnosed with leukaemia before he turned four and finished treatment a year ago and five year old Sonny Law, from Greenock who was diagnosed with leukaemia in November 2016 and is still undergoing treatment.
They loved meeting Tyson and couldn’t wait to get him to sign some gloves too.
It was great to see the gypsy king boxer getting in shape at the Radisson hotel  - as last time he was here he was looking rough - after partying all night long.
This time Tyson, who was interviewed by snooker champ Willie Thorne, only had a pint of Guinness for St Paddy’s day. He insisted he’s gearing up for fighting again at the end of May, and is on a new health kick.


IN THE LYONS DEN
STRICTLY Winner Joe McFadden was up in Glasgow to take part in Sports Relief with Des Clarke. Joe told me he had fun as the two raced around in cars together despite Des being petrified.  I caught him at the brilliant Beatson charity ladies lunch where he showed off some er, unusual dance moves with Kaye Adams and John Amabile. Joe revealed he’s keen to stay in shape although admitted he actually dropped dance partner Katya in rehearsals for the live shows. Fearful of a repeat performance, he made a vow there and then not to party too hard during the run.

ON THE PROWL
WHO better to run an auction at Woman Of Influence than Antique Road Trip’s Natasha Raskin? The animated paintings expert, who also has a show on BBC Radio Scotland every Thursday from 11pm until 1am, was rushing off to London to record a secret job for BBC’s The One Show. She told me can’t help herself buying tat and recently had a ball when she visited an old amusement arcade to price it up for sale. They were even selling vintage tissues!

CONOR MCGREGOR MEETS WITH GLASGOW DREAMMAKER KIDS

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CONOR McGregor stayed an extra two days in Glasgow  and met up with Celtic and Scotland team supremo Kieran Tierney and nine brace children from Scottish charity the Les Hoey Dreammaker Foundation after his talk in the Armadillo.

The MMA fighter who is fiercely proud of his Scottish ancestry met with the children after Les and his team splashed out on the treasured tickets to see him talk at the bash.
And the Dublin born champ met up with Glasgow's own boxing lad Lee Welsh who at thirteen already has several boxing titles of his own under his belt.
Lee who has beaten cancer was joined by Euan Fellows, 14 from Arbroath who was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma.
Lee said: "You don't get to meet Conor McGregor every day. Conor is a UFC fighter but as a boxer he did alright for the first five rounds and Mayweather then picked his shots."
Hamish McGuigan, 13 from Stranraer and Mitchell Connell, 14, who both have lymphoma also met their hero.
Hamish said: "I'm a massive Conor McGregor fan. I like what he does."
Mitchell said: "He's a cool guy and I like the way he dresses."
Darren Valentine,16 from Blantyre added: "Les Hoey got tickets for us for this. He's helped us out quite a lot and this is just one of the things he'd done for us. Conor is a famous guy and is one of the most popular people in the world."
Dylan Hawkins added: "It means everything to me to meet Conor as I've always followed him."
Conor who wore a jacket in the McGregor tartan said of his Scots trip: "I'm very proud of my heritage and where I come from you can go way back and I was swinging a pick axe on a horse up in the Scottish Highlands defending this land. That's where I come from so it's an honour to come here."
During the night audience member Steven Anderson gifted a signed glove he bought for £250 to The Dreammaker Foundation.
Another audience member gave the charity a hundred pounds after seeing them at the event.
After the bash Conor stayed on an extra two days at the plush Blythswood hotel in Glasgow where he met up with Kieran Tierney.
Conor who had chanted Celtic songs both during his Armadillo chat and at his Sanctuary nightclub appearance said he couldn't wait to get back home to his son and family.

HONEY G GETS DOWN WITH THR DREAMMAKER KIDS ON SCOTS X FACTOR TOUR

X Factor's Honey G gave some high fives and big hugs to terminally ill 12 year old Mark 'Sparky' Gallagher before taking to the stage for the X Factor tour in Glasgow.
The rapper joined winner Matt Terry, Scots contestants Emily Middlemas and Ryan Lawrie and other finalists to meet up with a party of kids from the Les Hoey MBE Dreammaker Foundation at Braehead Arena before taking to the stage.


The sick kids included Ashlee Easton, 10, from Falkirk who has neuroblastoma and Nathan Mowat, six from Greenock who has Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma and Isla Aitken who has just finished treatment for leukaemia.



As well as giving them goody bags with caps and badges in them, the celebs spent some time chatting with the kids.
Emily said: "Its such an amazing surprise from the Dreammaker Foundation and we've got a handshake going on. It's so nice to see Sparky and everyone. We're having a lovely time on tour."
Afterwards Sparky's mum Michelle Gallagher said: "Sparky was absolutely thrilled to meet his hero Honey G. His wee brother came too. He has a brain tumour and was recently in hospital for pancreatitis surgery. Things like this just keep him going."


Ashlee's mum Isla added: "Ashlee has just had a relapse and we find it hard to plan things so it was lovely when Les and Angela from the Dreammaker Foundation got us tickets for this. Ashlee absolutely loved it and is hyper. She loves the X factor and music and singing and dancing and Emily Middlemas remember her from when she recorded a Christmas single with others for the charity."
Nathan's mum Jill added: "It was a wee escape from treatment and a real treat. It's great to have some normality and something positive in negative situations and Nathan just loved it. Les and the foundation do amazing work."




- Posted with love from Scotland by theShowbizLion.com