Star Wars at RAF Halton
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…..
A young George Clooney lookalike, Cpl Gary Wigglesworth, from GD Flight at RAF Halton, organised a charity showing of all the Star Wars films in one day to raise money for the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, this would be an all-day event starting at 08:30 on Saturday May 6th and finishing sometime in the small hours of Sunday the 7th May. Over 70 people attempted the 19 and a half hour marathon, which is no easy feat. The intrepid explorers turned up with pillows, blankets and flasks of coffee ready for the story arc that would span eight films. Between each film there was a ten minute break to stretch legs and recharge sugar levels with popcorn and sweets.
During lunch there was a raffle of Star Wars prizes, 41 in total, these were donated from a mix of high street shops and independent prop makers.
As the night went on the numbers were thinned out as tiredness hit, some gave up and slept in the cinema, and by the end at 03:45 27 people were left. After the roller-coaster story the adventurers left the cinema with grinning faces they shuffled into the crisp morning air.
The total amount raised was £1,817.66
Gary said: “Everyone who donated was extremely generous, we took £1200 on the day and raised £1800 in total. Well done to Andrew Kingdom who won the Storm Trooper helmet which was cast from the original helmet used in ‘Star Wars Episode Four, A New Hope’ and worth £300. Watch this space for the next venture where we will try to top the amount raised.”