An up-and-coming magician will be putting a shopping centre under his spell in aid of a hospice.
Brett Jones, 21, will be performing tricks for shoppers at Eagles Meadow shopping centre on Saturday March 22, between 11am and 3pm, to raise cash for Nightingale House Hospice.
The conjurer will be taking part in ‘the Wrexham Happiness for the Hospice campaign which aims to spread joy throughout the town. It was inspired by the United Nations International Day of Happiness Day which kicked off in June 2012.
The occasion has been masterminded by a band of Glyndwr University business events students, who’ll be armed with smiles, collection buckets, and a cast of children’s favourite characters, including Bob the Builder.
Eagles Meadow outlets have also been chipping in with prizes for the lucky dip, which include cinema tickets from the Odeon, and coffee granules, a chocolate coin, and a reusable cup from Starbucks.
Nightingale House provides specialist palliative care service for patients with life-limiting illness living in North East Wales and the border areas.
The hospice delivers symptom control, assessment, terminal care, and on-going emotional support for relatives and carers, bereavement support, education and information.
Brett, a first year theatre and performance student at Glyndwr University, can’t wait for the event.
He said: “It’s all going to be happy and you’ll have all the characters around. It’s going to be a really nice uplifting mood, and to be able to go round and show people magic and see their reaction is going to be so much fun.”
Brett started learning about magic four years ago when his uncle Shaun Bowen, who happens to be a top magician who has performed all over the world, bought him a deck of cards and taught him a few tricks.
“As a child I saw him doing stuff even today I still can’t figure out how he did it. He’s a fantastic magician. That I think made me want to do it.
“I used to go and see these illusion shows. The whole sawing a woman in half used to scare me a bit. I don’t tend to saw women in half. That’s not my style.
“I do close up stuff which is generally a lot of card tricks or coins. The kind of stuff you see a traditional magician do. I also do bits of hypnotism and mind reading and predictions.
“What I enjoy about magic so much is the performance side of it. You can make a big spectacle of it.
“People come up to me now in the street and go you’re the Harry Potter guy.”
Event organiser and second year student Tobias Declan Perks, said: “The team at Eagles Meadow have been great in helping us to put on the event. They’ve not just provided us with a place but they’ve also been giving advice and helping us learn.
“I can’t wait for the event and seeing the smiles on everybody’s faces. We’re going to be spreading joy. Nightingale house is a great charity, and I’m glad we’re able to support them and give something back to the community to help them to carry on the great work they do.”
Tobias assisted with event logistics at the London 2012 Olympics, and helped run the executive suite at Coventry Stadium.
He said: “Helping out at the Olympics was fantastic. It was a great occasion, and the atmosphere was brilliant. People came from all over the world, and it just shows how events can bring people together.”
For more information about Nightingale House Hospice please visit www.nightingalehouse.co.uk or call 01978 316800, and more information about the event check out Wrexham Happiness for the Hospice on Facebook or follow @HappyWrexham on Twitter.
