COMEDIAN Peter Kay helped raise thousands of pounds for a charity set up in memory of murdered schoolboy Joe Geeling.
The Phoenix Nights star made a surprise appearance at a fundraising ball on Saturday and auctioned a special prize.
He offered a chance for eight people to watch the filming of his new show, Britain's Got The Pop Factor - a spoof of Britain's Got Talent.
The prize went for £16,000 and the money will go to the Joe Geeling Trust. Joe, aged 11, was murdered in March, 2006, by Michael Hamer, then aged 14, a fellow pupil at St Gabriel's RC High School, Bury.
Joe had cystic fibrosis and the trust has been set up to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and the New Children's Hospital Appeal in Manchester.
The Shining Star Ball, at Manchester's Midland Hotel, raised a total of £100,000 to be split between the charities.
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