Liverpool theatre family’s charity ball in aid of Alder Hey and their own superhero Fabian

From the Empire to the Theatre Royal St Helens, they’re used to putting on some of the best stage shows in the Liverpool City Region – but their latest production next month is much more personal.

The Joseph family, including director and producers Jane and Chantelle, are organising a glittering black tie charity event, The Thunder Ball, at the Hilton Hotel Liverpool.

And it’s in aid of Alder Hey and two other special children’s cancer charities, to say thank you for the life-saving care and treatment for one of its youngest members.

Fabian Morley, five, has rung the end-of-treatment bell and is now clear of cancer after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of the disease in April last year.

Mum Georgia says: “My mum, Jane, and sister Chantelle are in theatre production, and we are giving back in the way we know best.

“You don’t know where to start with saying thank you, because Alder Hey, firstly, have given us Fabian’s life.  They saved him!

“The charity, Young Lives vs Cancer, helped us mentally throughout the whole journey.

“And the Owen McVeigh Foundation, when Fabian was finally well and able to live his life again, gave us some incredible family memories.”

Georgia, 35, a hairdresser and make-up supervisor for Channel 4’s Hollyoaks drama, goes on: “Fabian experienced his first football match in an executive box at Anfield, and they sent us on holidays in the Lake District.  They do such amazing work.

“And there’s this wonderful community. Every time we see another family at an event or that we’ve met on the ward or at a party, it’s like a big gang that you don’t want to be in, but we are in, and there’s such huge support.

“The Thunder Ball will be a big party, to raise money and say thank you to all of them.”

Fabian was just four when he was diagnosed with Burkitt’s Lymphoma, a fast-growing cancer that affects the lymphatic system and is the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in children.

Georgia, from West Derby, was still on maternity leave having had her second son Gabriel, who’s nearly two, when she and husband Jay began to worry about their eldest.

“It was the Easter holidays, and I was full on with the baby and planning things with Fabian. We were going to play centres, and he was playing football, going rock climbing and swimming.

“Every couple of days or so, he’d complain of tummy ache and at first I’d think, oh no, he’s had Easter eggs for breakfast (and we’re always really careful about what he eats).

“I thought he might have an intolerance but thought nothing more of it. Then he started being sick, and that was every couple of nights, and then he’d wake up fine. This was all over Easter.

“It came to a head the day before I was due to go back to work and he came into our bedroom and said he’d been sick again, so I got him back in bed and gave him a little tummy rub – and it was then I felt a big lump and decided to take him to A&E.

“It was in my head that they’d diagnose a virus or give him some antibiotics and we’d be out.”

But Fabian didn’t leave hospital again for four weeks.

He was instead admitted to a ward where four days later, after a biopsy, he was diagnosed with cancer.

Doctors discovered a tumour that was 13cm by 10cm and which, because Georgia had spotted it early, thankfully hadn’t spread.

Her brave little boy underwent five cycles of chemotherapy to shrink and treat the tumour. The first lasted three consecutive days; the next two, five days, and the final two, nine days each.

“It’s hard seeing your little boy go through that, to lose his hair, and become an angry little boy because of the steroids.”

Thankfully Fabian – who started in reception at Tower College, Rainhill, in September – responded well, finishing his treatment in July and ringing the bell in August at Alder Hey when the central line used to administer his chemo was finally removed.

“He now has scans every six weeks which will then go to every six months for five years. Fabian used to ask ‘am I sick mummy?’ and I’d say ‘yeah, but you’re going to be all better’, all the while praying he was. 

“Thankfully he is cancer clear now.”

City presenters Leanne Campbell and Pete Price will host the Thunder Ball which is being held on Saturday, March 15.

And with the tag line ‘Thunderbolts and Lightning, This Night will be exciting’ it promises to be an event to remember for all the right reasons.

Tickets cost £100, which includes a drinks reception, a three-course dinner, live entertainment, a DJ and an auction (for which more prizes and donations would very much appreciated!).

If the Joseph family know how to do anything, it’s to present a showstopping event – and with their hearts and souls poured into the charity ball, they are hoping to raise thousands for Alder Hey, as well as the Owen McVeigh Foundation and Young Lives vs Cancer.

Georgia says: “This is our first ball and we are hoping it will become an annual event.

“Tickets are £100 and so we want to put on a good show – we want people to say ‘wow’.

“We’ve got a seven-piece live band, a singer, dancers, and a multi-coloured disco floor, and amazing centre pieces on the tables. There’ll be a raffle and stand-up bingo.

“Some people sky dive or walk up a hill for charities, we are planning this event – and it’s going to be a real production.

“We want people to have a great night and raise money for three fantastic causes – and to help say the biggest thank you from us.”

The Thunder Ball is at Hilton Hotel Liverpool on Saturday, March 15 with arrival from 6pm. To book individual tickets or a table for 10, contact Chantelle Joseph on 07899977888 or email chantelle@sthelenstheatreroyal.co.uk  

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