Pat writes:

“Hi, all. I just got a couple of OK magazines from an earlier auction at ebay. One is 6 years old but it had a nice shot of REG and Olivia. Thought you’d like to see it.”

Celebrities Pledge Support For AIDS Orphans By Wearing PINS On World AIDS Day

Media release
23 November 2001

Alice Searle with a South African grandmother and her children.

Heather Mills, Derek Jacobi, Meera Syal, June Brown (Dot Cotton in ‘EastEnders’), Richard E Grant, Germaine Greer, Robert Lindsay and Imelda Staunton will all attach an unusual beaded pin with the AIDS ribbon symbol to their clothing on Saturday 1 December for World Aids Day.

World Aids Day is the only day of the year when countries all over the world will focus on the pandemic, which is killing one in four children in South Africa and 2,000 people per day in Zimbabwe. The celebrities are united in their support for the PIN project (People In Need).

The PINS are the brainchild of Alice Searle, a grandmother in her 50s from Derbyshire. During a stint as a VSO volunteer in South Africa, Alice realised that thousands of grandmothers – known as gogos – have to care for their grandchildren as their sons and daughters are dying from HIV/AIDS related illnesses.

“I will wear the PIN, and wear it with pride, ” says Professor Germaine Greer.

Alice Searle has seen first hand that an entire generation is being decimated by HIV/AIDS. “A whole new society of orphans is being created, they don’t have anyone to look after them. The children who have grandparents are the lucky ones – although some will be HIV positive too. Their grandparents need help to care for them, as they are on very low incomes” explains Alice.

REG wearing his PIN.

Alice decided to take action, and set up the PIN project, using the grandmothers’ traditional beading skills. The gogos make pins in the style of the traditional Zulu love letter, in the shape of the AIDS symbol. Each sells for £2 in the UK, and funds raised have cared for over 100 orphans in Zululand, South Africa. The project is expanding into other communities.

“The problem is the stigma, nobody talks about the cause of death though sometimes they say The Disease,” adds Alice. “I’m hoping the PINS will help to decrease the stigma, as people are earning a living from the income.”

Alice Searle with South African grandmother Priscilla and her two grandchildren, who she is caring for. Her daughter died of HIV related illness after the baby, Ngabenga, was born.

Drugs to treat HIV/AIDS are paid for by the NHS for people in the UK, but out of reach for the majority of people in developing countries. A month’s course of fluconazole to treat a painful and often fatal form of HIV/AIDS-related meningitis costs about £270 in both Kenya and in the UK This is more than the average Kenyan earns in a year (£236), in terms of relative salary it is as if someone in the UK had to personally pay around £17,000 EVERY MONTH for this vital medicine. VSO’s new report Street Price makes clear recommendations for improving this situation to the UK government , which is currently debating the issue in a new Working Group of ministers (see Notes to Editors).

For more information about Street Price, please call Beverley Cohen at VSO on 020 8780 7285 (Beverley.cohen@vso.org.uk). Ends Notes to Editors

1. VSO is an international development charity that works through volunteers

2. VSO is a member of the new Stop Aids Campaign, launched on 28 November 2001.

3. Four government ministers including development secretary Clare Short have held the first of a series of three Working Group meetings to discuss access to cheap drugs in developing countries.

4. VSO’s report Street Price recommends a published pricing system and a global forum for equity pricing – a clear way forward for people in developing countries to have access to HIV/AIDS drugs.

5. VSO is providing constructive support for the HIV/AIDS pandemic through its volunteers in health, fundraising, capacity building and administration.

Richard E Grant is, if the rumour mill is to be believed, going to be in not one but two shows at the same time next year. Not likely! But has indeed been tipped for two separate and seemingly simultaneous projects. Word is he’ll star in the £4 million Ben Elton-Queen musical, We Will Rock You, which is due to open at the Dominion Theatre next May. At the same time, the Withnail and I star is also reportedly being courted by choreographer Susan Stroman and producer Michael White to star in the London production of Broadway dance hit, Contact, which is currently lining up a West End venue for next year. If he appeared in the latter, Grant would take up the role of an advertising executive whose lonely existence is transformed when he meets a mysterious woman in a yellow dress.

by Dominique Falla

Full name: Dayne Stephen Coleman Hudson
Date and place of birth: Baulkam Hills Private Hospital, Sydney, 26th Of August 1987.

Q: What is the name of the character you play in Hildegarde?

Dayne: Jeremy, The duck owner.

Q: Can you give us a brief run-down of the story?

Dayne: I am a child, along with my brother and sister, (Sam Geer, and Gezelle Byrnes) And we own the pet Duck Hildegarde, given to myself as I was a child, by my father, who is now dead. Our precious beloved family pet, is stolen by the evil bird smugglers (Tom Long, And Richard E. Grant) who run a animal show that acts as a side show, to cover up the dirty work of Wolfs (Richard E. Grant) way of getting money for his new bar (As it costs money to enter the show he runs.) Our duck Hildegarde, Is captured by these two evil men, And it is up to us to save the day.

Q: Can you describe a typical day on the set of Hildegarde?

Dayne: Yeah, It is another best day of your life. You get to the place where you are filming, And you film for the day, Get back for the best Lunches ever! You film with pride and joy, and it is unreal, I love it!

Q: What was it like to work with Richard E. Grant?

Dayne: It was great. He is so professional. He is a great actor, He knows when and what he is doing, and, well, doing scene with him, with his acting, honestly, It feels like real life, until you hear “Cut” from our director (Di Drew). I nearly cried when he left, in fact I DID CRY! HE WAS THAT GOOD TO WORK WITH! IT IS A EXPERIENCE OF A LIFE TIME!

Q: Are there any juicy secrets you can reveal about Richard?

Dayne: Well, I hope he is not listening! But, to be honest, and make good existence of this question! We were on set and getting ready for the camera set up, and Richard farted, and yelled “OY, you!” And blamed me for it! And the cast and crew didn’t believe me when I told them it was Richard. He and I couldn’t stop laughing after this!

Q: What was the best thing about acting on Hildegarde?

Dayne: The experience, I wish everyone could have the experience I did, honestly, you think about it every day, you can never live it down, I mean, would you ever live down the best time of your life?

Q: What was the worst?

Dayne: The end of it, going home!

Q: How long have you been acting?

Dayne: That was my first audition, only about 1 year! Lucky I know!

Q: How did you get the role on Hildegarde?

Dayne: Audition, through my agent. And of course my talent! LOL.

Q: What other TV/film appearances have you made?

Dayne: Nothing, as I said, That was my first Audition.

Q: Any plans to keep acting in the future?

Dayne: Yes, definitely, I would love to be as successful as Richard one day!

Q: Thank you very much for your time!

Dayne: Quite alright! Thank you for allowing me to write in to your website!

Jolie writes:

Hi all,

A friend spotted REG at the Wydhams Theatre yesterday & wrote to me about it. Thought I’ll share this small bit of news with you all (see below).

Jolie :-)

“Jo

He looks *exactly* like his photos !!”

Thanks Jolie!