Maggie’s, announce star-studded line up for inaugural ‘Carols on your Couch’ digital event

On the 3 December 2020, Scotland’s foremost cancer care charity, Maggie’s, invites Scots up and down the country to a Christmas carol concert like no other. Streaming live from 7.30pm, the online singalong event will see well-known Scottish actors, authors and musicians light up laptops in homes and care homes nationwide with some much-needed festive cheer.

Over the course of the hour-long event, viewers will be treated to an exclusive performance by much-loved panto duo, DJ extraordinaire, Grant Stott and River City star, Andy Gray, who will be reuniting for the first time this year to play Santa and Andy ‘the Elf’ back at Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre, Scotland’s home of panto.

The performance comes at a pivotal time for the theatre – and its stars – given its ongoing closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. “The Kings Theatre is delighted to be able to support Maggie’s, alongside our panto stars, Grant Stott and Andy Gray”, Gary Smith, Director of Communications at the King’s Theatre, shared. “As we are unable to open our doors this festive season, we are very happy to be able to spread some Christmas cheer through our support of this wonderful online event.”

For actors Stott and Gray, the event is also particularly significant given their own, personal connection to the work Maggie’s does here in Scotland. Talking about his own experience of cancer, Gray candidly shared “when I was diagnosed, I was really taken aback and didn’t know what to do next. Maggie’s in Dundee was really there for me” whilst Stott, who has worked closely with Maggie’s over recent years, has witnessed first-hand the life-changing impact Maggie’s centres support have had: “I’ve met some remarkable people whose journeys have been made just that bit more bearable thanks to the unwavering support they’ve received from Maggie’s.”

Scots’ singing sensation, X-Factor alumni, Caitlyn Vanbeck, will be performing Christmas classics, and the St. Mary’s Cathedral choir will perform a special, candle-lit carol concert performed live from the Cathedral itself. Author and former Blue Peter presenter, Janet Ellis, will also be treating viewers to a Christmas reading, too.

Tickets are available for a donation of only £10 which will go straight to Maggie’s eight centres across Scotland. The event will also be screened free of charge in Scotland’s care homes to bring some festive cheer to residents and to say thank you to key workers for their efforts in the pandemic.

Commenting on the significance of this year’s event, Maggie’s Edinburgh Centre Head, Andy Anderson said: “This year has been incredibly challenging for people with cancer. Maggie’s is only able to be there for anyone who needs us because of fundraising events like ‘Carols on Your Couch’ which means so much to us and everyone who visits our centres. A huge thank you to everyone performing at our concert.”

Lisa Stephenson from Edinburgh has a rare blood cancer and has been visiting Maggie’s Edinburgh since 2011. As an avid Maggie’s supporter, Lisa has made a date to celebrate ‘Carols on your Couch’ with her son and daughter Joe and Ellie for December 3rd. She said: “There isn’t any doubt that I’ll be on the sofa with a glass of prosecco on Dec 3rd singing my heart out with my kids and our friends who we hope to have on Zoom at the same time. We all need events to look forward to during this pandemic and this Christmas we will need to get together in whatever ways we can”.

Maggie’s first centre opened in Edinburgh in 1996. It was the vision of Maggie Keswick Jencks who used her own experience of cancer to create a new type of cancer care. Today, Maggie’s has a network of centres across the UK and abroad helping people take back control when cancer turns life upside down, with professional support for anything from treatment side effects to money worries.

To book: to purchase tickets for the event, click here.

For further information on complimentary tickets for care homes, please email [email protected]