The idea for the group first came into being in 1985 when I was Blackpool at the 'Dr Who' Exhibition.....

A few people had made their own costumes, etc and I thought it would be a good idea to have some themed fundraising events utilising the costumes. A pub crawl was our first active event to support the local Hyde Hospital with myself, Nigel Peever and my mum. The following year we got the chance of an event which turned out to be a character trip to Preston with a Kraal, The Master and Auton making a visit. At this point we hadn't picked a group name and it was mainly my family and Nigel Peever in Crewe who contributed his costumes. It was defintely enjoyable and following the closure of the exhibition in Blackpool, it was a good chance to get everyone together. However, we felt we had to support one of the bigger charities which people would recognise on the street. So we got everyone together and planned out a few events for 1988 which would raise money, for example street collections, pub crawls etc. It was at this point that two people joined who really strengthened our team, Andrew Crombie and John Ashton. We met John at Piccadilly Plaza at a comic fair where his Davros and Dalek models were on display and we recruited him into the group. Andy joined to help with driving and other things, at the time not having a great fascination for 'Doctor Who' but believing in a good cause. It was my mum who came up with the name 'Hyde Fundraisers' since we came from that area. I must stress that other members come from Leeds, Rochdale, Crewe and Stockport! Events in 1988 included collections in Ashton-under-Lyne, Denton, Hyde, Gorton, Manchester Arndale Centre and at the LEGEND telefantasy group in Liverpool all to raise money for Children-In-Need. We got a TV spot on appeal night with the Dalek and Cyberman. Other things that year included a collection for the children's wards at Tameside Hospital and children's Xmas party in Hyde. As you can see, 1988 was a very tiring year with so many things taking place over that period to keep us all busy. In 1989 we had just two events for Children-In-Need which took place in Ashton and Hyde. But our 'Dr Who' team were called to help Eight Towns Radio at Tameside Hospital to raise funds. By this stage John Ashton was getting less enthusiastic about the collections. However, Andy Crombie suggested we needed something that would be central when we were out on the street, and he began planning out the construction of the TARDIS! The police box was completed in April 1990 and attended a few events including a police open day and various conventions. Interest in the collections had waned a little, even from me, but I was still in touch with everyone and I planned a date in April 1991 to collect for Eight Towns Radio once again. Andy had moved onto his second project , to build a full size Dalek for us. Although the base section was made from scrap wood, I contributed money for materials etc and Dalek number one was complete for September. We were called in to help at Stalybridge Carnival to man the float of Eight Towns Radio - and won first prize! The second, and more superior Dalek, was completed later in 1991 which takes us nicely to 1992, when we really relaunched ourselves onto the scene. In March we began with a collection in Ashton for the hospital radio once again, with transport provided by the Reporter Group Of Newspapers. The next venture was a promotional visit to the Longleat 'Dr Who' exhibition in early August with the Dalek's and other costumes. We followed this with a visit to the Exploratory in Bristol who were also staging an exhibition. We started the ball rolling for Children-In-Need with a collection at Blackpool Tower where there were no less than three Dalek's gliding around inside that famous landmark. The final event of 1992 was in Oldham Town Square shopping centre, where the BBC actually recorded a segment for use on the evening. So to 1993, the anniversary year, and once again we were busier than ever with collections for the National Children's Home in Stockport, Stapeley Water Gardens, and Manchester town centre - outside the Norweb branch. It was sad to see Andrew Crombie leave the group in April after a conflict with other members which unfortunately led to his resignation. I have to admit, losing him was a tremendous blow, but it was agreed to push ahead with our most ambitious project - a convention. REMEMBRANCE '93 was the result of over 19 months hard work by many people to finally get the event off the ground. It is without doubt, the most complex and challenging thing that any of us has had to cope with but with the aims to raise money for charity the effort was worthwhile. From November 20th to January 1994, our costumes were on display at Warrington museum in the SPACEBLASTERS exhibition. Display items included some of the Timelord outfits we'd used in The Trial Of Davros, Daleks, Police Box and Sea Devil. The exhibition also hosted a display of Gerry Anderson props that belonged to Martin Bower and some original BLAKES 7 items from the collection of Kevin & Fliss Davies. It was during 1994 that we became interested in attempting a follow up convention, REMEMBRANCE'95, mainly because we felt until we featured a "Doctor" at one of our events we wouldn't be satisfied. After various locations were considered we settled on the larger Periquito Hotel in Oldham for March 1995. In August 1994, we were invited to help at the Longleat event which featured a cavalcade of Doctors, Jon Pertwee (who was just recovering from a slight stroke), Sylvester McCoy, Peter Davison and Colin Baker. The event was hugely successful and we entertained the visitors in assorted monsters and with a Timelord! We were also fundraising for the Blue Cross Animal Appeal . It was in November that year, at The Who Shop at Albert Dock, Liverpool, when we approached Jon Pertwee who had been booked for a signing and were delighted to have a positive response. In January 1995 we travelled down to Bristol for a special showing of the two Dalek films which had been organised by The Gaiety Cinema in Knowle and fan Tim Burchell. We also collected for The Children-In-Need appeal and had a great time thanks to the hospitality of the organisers and staff. REMEMBRANCE'95 was looking to be our best event yet. Once again we had a terrifically busy weekend with organising the exhibition, props, guests and auction. We considered that this may be the last event but at the back of our minds REMEMBRANCE'97 was niggling at us. It was January 1996 when we started to plan the convention and how to make it different once again. I was keen that it should have a theatrical element so I started to draft together "The Doctor Missing Presumed Dead". In August that year we attended LONGLEAT, and after hearing that Tom Baker was making an appearance there, we thought it could be an opportunity to get him as a major guest for our convention. By going to the event we also took part in the Cyber battle sequence with Nicholas Courtney and we hoped that we could possibly work this into our own presentation. We made our approaches to Tom and remained in contact until we recieved an eventual confirmation. In early January 1997, we filmed on Baker Street at Granada Studios, Manchester, to record the main sequences featuring Morbius. This also entailed utilising two of the BBC's Chancellery Guards, courtesy of BBC Worldwide, Llangollen and Experience Management & Design. It was against the clock so the filming had to be achieved within a tight deadline which included sequences with the Police Box and the interior of 221b Baker St which served as Morbius's retreat. What a treat to film in such a location! Anyway, it was during this time that we learned that MANOPTICON had brought their own event forward and forecasting this would hit our attendance, we took a fresh look at our budgets and commitments to ensure the event did achieve a profit for charity - which was the whole point in doing the thing! Following the convention, disaster struck in the early hours of Sunday morning. We had left our funds in the hotel safe and during the night the money was stolen, together with other hotel guests valuables. Garry had been staying over onsite and was first to hear the news - I just couldn't believe it. Initially the Hotel was naturally supportive, but then we started a battle to regain our monies. Just as we were about to recieve our payment, we were issued with a summons from the hotel for the outstanding fees owed to them plus interest going back to the date of the theft - shocked was not a word I would have used to describe our reaction! We then entered yet another dispute, but ultimately it was resolved but not without leaving an element of bitterness and disappointment at the treatment we had recieved. Obviously events surrounding REMEMBRANCE'97 hit us all very deeply and we had the wind taken out of our sails for over 12 months. However, we did find time to pop down to Yeovil, to the Ottakers bookshop, to support a signing by Mr Tom Baker who was on his whistle stop tour promoting his autobiography. In April 1998, we supported the SCI-FI'98 project at Granada Studios, in Manchester, which featured the guest appearances of Kenny Baker and Peter Davison. The event wasn't publicised well by Granada and was a wasted opportunity, in many ways, despite the hard work and dedication from Positive Plus who co-ordinated a great deal of the event. Unfortunately we didn't have Irene Perry with us due to illness, it was this illness which eventually culminated in her death. I went to visit Irene in hospital, in Bath, in June and she seemed in high spirits, grateful to see some familiar "Who" faces. It came as a blow to hear the sad news from her daughter, Ruth, and we were able to pay our last respects and goodbyes to Irene at her funeral, in her home city of Liverpool. We were given an opportunity through Dallas Slade and Longleat to hold the annual August event, with less than a months notice, so we decided that this would be our little tribute to Irene and all her support she had given. Artist Lee Sullivan did a special Troughton piece of artwork and we held an auction in aid of the hospital Irene had stayed. I was also delighted that Michael Jayston read our own tribute to her at the event, which proved to be successful. Things then went pretty quiet for us again until we were contacted by Blue Peter. Since then, we have supported a Science Fair in Wrecsam in March 2000, followed by a visit to Longleat in August to join Tom Baker, Nicholas Courtney and Deborah Watling. In the Spring of 2001, we were asked to co-ordinate the first ever SCI-FI Day for Ashton-under-Lyne, in Lancashire. This encompassed not only Dr Who but Star Wars, Star Trek and Batman and so we joined forces with Skywalker Promotions. The event was part of the Ashton Summer Funshine Festival, organised by Ashton Town Centre Management, and proved to be a great success. We were delighted with our event at the Llangollen Exhibition Centre, in November 2001 with Micheal Jayston - raising £500 for Children-In-Need!! In July 2002 we made appearances at Glossop Carnival and a Press Call for the Superheroes & Sci-Fi Day in Ashton. The event in Ashton was even more successful and we were grateful for the additional support of the UK Garrison. We were also delighted to welcome both Steve Hird as Robocop and Andy Loring with a Dalek to Fundraisers for the Ashton event. Together, with both of their families, we were grateful for their additional support with the Fundraisers. Local bakery Trifles, in Ashton, created a special cake with slices sold in aid of the charity. We also took some instant photo's to raise money for the Hospice - with Spider-Man proving a popular character! In August it was a visit to Longleat with the Sea Devil, Heamavore and Cyberleader to entertaining the visitors. It was the return of those characters plus Hieronymous at the Manchester Panopticon event in September. Also In September we supported Willow Wood Hospice with their Drive-In Movie at the Snipe Retail Park. This was followed by a visit to the Village Hotel, in Hyde, where we supported the fundraising firewalk for Willow Wood and also donated £150. Our next major event was a return to Llangollen for Children In Need, in November, when we raised over £180, which we made up to £250, with the help of Jawa's, Robocop, Batman & Robin and troopers from the UK Garrison. In November we attended the Dimensions On Tyne Convention organised by Dave Price and raised funds for Body Positive and financing a TV for the HYDE OUT group. We were delighted to recruit some additional support in the form of sculptur Philip Robinson, who had created some marvellous Sontarans, and prop maker Tony Myers. Our work with the Garrison convinced me and Garry even more that we must add some Star Wars characters to our regular fundraising events. So plans started to take affect to strengthen our own 'Garrison' of characters. I was planning to create Darth Vader and a Scout Trooper, Garry was at work getting an X-Wing Pilot, Emperor Guard and Andy Loring started work on R2D2! Of course we didn't neglect Dr Who, I needed to refurbish my Dalek for one thing, while also working on a Silurian and getting an Auton! I was also keen that we should have the Doctor's faithful robot dog on board so he was also a project for consideration! In April 2003, we were in Northampton to raise funds for the Ovarian Cancer charity 'Ovacum' and we managed to generate over £200. In June, we supported the Ashton 'Black Knight Paegent' that supports the Willow Wood Hospice Appeal. In July 2003, we also supported the Hospice again with the Ashton Sci-Fi Weekend. Celebrating Dr Who's anniversary in August, we took a variety of aliens to Wiltshire once again. We were also raising more funds for Ovacum in Llangollen, on August 17th, with Colin Baker! In November 2003, it was Hyde Fundraisers visiting the BBC studios once again to contribute to the BLUE PETER's 40th Anniversary Celebration of the show, with Sylvester McCoy. The following day we arrived in Bradford, at the National Museum of Film & photography, to collect for BBC Children In Need. It was a sad time at the end of 2003 when we attended the last event at the Llangollen exhibition. Still in 2004 we were in Blackpool for the opening of the New Exhibition as well as working on our filmed inserts for TRIAL OF DAVROS that we intend to re-stage in July 2005. We also helped raise funds in March for Hurst Knoll school in Ashton and also raised funds at The Space People's Open Day, in Grimsby, in April. Darwen was a great event in May where we met up with Terry Molloy and Peter Miles once again. In June we attended a Memorabilia Event in Telford, Shropshire, that Colin Baker also attended. The Sci-Fi weekend once again proved a great hit in Ashton-under-Lyne with the appearance of the Knight Rider car - KITT. In September, we held our first big press call for TRIAL OF DAVROS at the Blackpool Dr Who Exhibition with Terry Molloy and Deborah Watling. Memorabilia in November attracted a lot of interest in THE TRIAL OF DAVROS, thanks to John Leeson's attendance. We also had the opportunity to promote the show at the DIMENSIONS event in November where WHO CONFIDENTIAL filmed some contributions. The final event of 2004 was HULLYWOOD where again, we promoted the stageshow. On Sunday February 6th 2005, Hyde Fundraisers were delighted to attend the launch of Border Who, in Carisle, with Cyberman, Daleks and the faithful K-9! We gained media interest once again in March 2005 when we contributed to a launch feature about the new Dr Who series on BBC Breakfast. Cambridge was an interesting event where we debuted our new CGi photoscreen with The Daleks! This was followed in April with a fantastic presence at Memorabilia with a display of props, costumes and various characters at our new photoscreen. A week later and the team descended down to Weston Super Mare for the Galaxy Of Stars event where we brought the photoscreen and also featured with the UK Garrison. In May, prior to the opening of Star Wars Episode 3, we visited Cineworld in Ashton to promote Sci-Fi Weekend. On July 9th/10th we visited ASDA in Ashton as additional publicity for Sci-Fi Weekend with Dalek, Darth Vader and others. Of course, the biggest event for us was the weekend of July 16th when we not only staged the 5th Sci-Fi weekend in Ashton town centre, but also held our TRIAL OF DAVROS play at Tameside Hippodrome. The stageshow was the culmination of two years hard work in costume making, script writing, filming and promotion. We were elated by such a fantastic response to the show which starred Terry Molloy in the title role, John Leeson, Andy Wisher, Hylton Collins, Katarina Ollson, Brian Miller and Peter Miles. Hyde Fundraisers certainly demonstrated a high degree of professionalism, dedication and commitment to the weekend that has resulted in the biggest single fundraising amount of £6,500! An incredible achievement and a fantastic way to celebrate the groups 20th anniversary. The Sci-Fi weekend itself also proved a huge success with the guest appearance of Dave (Darth Vader) Prowse, the 1960's Batmobile and of course our photoscreen! In August we were back in action once again with fundraising in Droylsden for Our Kids Eyes and back in London for the launch of the Blue Peter "Design A Monster" competition. In September the gang were back at darwen for another Dr Who day where Colin Baker was also kind enough to present our donation to the NSPCC for £3750. In October The Life Science Centre in Newcastle hosted a MARS QUEST event and found some of the Hyde Fundraisers adding interest with the Special Weapon's Dalek and Predator to name a few aliens. November and we raised finds for Children In Need in Bradford and at Ashton Leisure Park where Davros actor Terry Molloy presented a cheque for £4000. The final event of 2005 had the team back in Cambridge where Davros entered a debate with Einstien joined by other characters such as Daleks and K-9! The first event of 2006 took place in Buxton at the Surestart Centre launch for which a promised charitable donation from the council was never received. We were delighted to welcome actors John Leeson (Voice of K-9) and Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett from Star Wars) as Honoarary members in recognition of their support to Hyde Fundraisers. They join Terry Molloy in our rolecall of Honrary Members that we intend to develop over the next couple of years. Toy firm Character Options generously donated some Daleks, Robosapiens and Robopets to our charity raffle which included other signed material from Dr Who stars including Christopher Eccleston! In April we celebrated the launch of Series 2 Dr Who with a visit to the Dr Who Exhibition in Blackpool that also featured a guest appearance by Colin Baker. At the end of May we descended upon Crystal Peaks Shopping Centre in Sheffield and were overwhelmed by the Dr Who interest from the public. In June we were delighted that the BBC kindly supported us with images of the new Cybermen and TARDIS interior to utilise with our virtual photoscreen. We visited the National Space Centre in Leicester in June where our new character The Sycorax Leader made his debut. July arrived to herald our return to St Annes School in Buxton where R2D2, Batman, K-9 and Batgirl entertained the visitors. The Virtual Photoscreen was in action again for an afternoon in August at Cineworld Ashton with various characters from Star Wars on hand including C3P0 and R2D2. In September over 5000 people descended upon the Potteries Museum in Hanley for their Dr Who Day. Attendees were greeted by Davros, Exillon's, Cybermen, K-9 and of course - The Doctor! We also visited the launch of the Dr Who UpClose Exhibition at Spaceport, Merseyside where exhibits included an Ood, new Cyberman and a Slitheen. October brought us back to Crystal Peaks with Photostand and a variety of Star Wars Characters to invade the shopping centre to raise our highest amount of the year of over £2500 !! Monday October 30th heralded the groups fourth appearance on popular childrens magazine programme Blue Peter. The programme linked their new Dr Who competition with a restrospective look at some classic 'Dr Who' monsters including Tetrap, Davros & Zygon right up to our very own Clockwork Droid and Sycorax. We were certainly very busy throughout November with appearances at the Dimensions Convention in Stockton-On-Tees, and two events for BBC Children In Need at The Red Dragon Centre, Cardiff Bay and The Phoenix Market Hall in Ashton. Our first event in 2007 was at the Museum Of Science & Industry in Manchester as a teaser before their new series exhibition launched. This was followed in March with a charity screening of ARMY OF GHOSTS/DOOMSDAY episodes with special guest Andrew Hayden-Smith. We attended the launch of the new Dr Who exhibition at MOSI in Manchester and then in April we attended the Superkids awards in Sheffield. We were absolutely bowled over by our appearance in Peterborough at the Museum which raised £4000. Also in June our Dr Who characters made a guest appearance at Selfridges Trafford Centre. Blackpool hosted us twice in August, for the Lions Carnival and also the famous Illuminations Switch-On done by David Tennant. October witnessed a return to Selfridges with a menagerie of Star Wars characters in tow to celebrate the movies anniversary. On November 2nd we held a hugely successful charity evening at MOSI in Manchester with special guest Don Gilet! Dimensions was our next event on November 10th and 11th before the annual presentation to BBC Children In Need in Blackpool with our BEST EVER amount raised for the appeal! That roughly brings us up to date, and no doubt we'll be meeting new people, and looking to get involved with other events in the years to come. Hope you can join us for the ride! KEVIN TAYLOR.