Comedy night set to raise money for storm-damaged sea cadet facilities in Bognor Regis

For cadets at the TS Sir Alec Rose, in Bognor Regis, the aftermath of last year’s storms is ongoing. The strong winds and ripping rains of Storm Storm Ciarán and others seriously damaged the cadet’s roof, making it even more difficult to carry out their duties, and costing a small fortune in ongoing repairs.

Fortunately for an organisation so good at feeding back into the community itself, the Sea Cadets aren’t alone, and one enterprising parent is hoping to raise money with a comedy night set to take place later this year.

"The roof gave in during all the storms last year, and the ceiling fell through with it. So we’ve had to move all our storage to make it safe for cadets and we needed to raise some money to get this thing back in action,” explained sea cadet estate manager and the man responsible for the upcoming comedy night, Steve Bousfield.

"It’s expensive. And obviously we still have to pay for our gas and electricity and all those other bills, and we have to try to stay open for the cadets – because that’s what we’re there for.

"Luckily, we can still do a lot of what we need, but we’ve lost a lot of space just because we’ve had to repurpose the storerooms. The programme’s fairly robust, bur we’ve lost quite a few rooms and it does make it harder to get them out on boats or sit them down for courses.”

Set to take place on September 27 at Felpham Community College, at 7.30pm, the event will feature performances from four award-winning comedians: experienced MC Samantha Day, Britain’s Got Talent Finalist Nick Page, international stand-up maestro Dan Evans and upcoming talent Sam Serrano.

For Mr Bousfield, the comedy show isn’t just about fundraising for a great cause, it also fills what he sees as a real gap in the town’s current cultural offerings. “The theatre has been closed for some time, and part of me thought Bognor hasn’t had a comedy night in a while, so let’s put something on for the community and hopefully raise some money, too.”