Enjoy a Classic Comedy and Help Raise Money for The Mayor's Charity - This Friday!

The Bedford Mayor's Charity will benefit from a special screening of Blazing Saddles this Friday, 5th February 2016 thanks to the support of Bedford Film Festival and The Place Theatre.

The screening came about after Mayor Dave Hodgson nominated the Mel Brooks' cult comedy classic Blazing Saddles for Bedford Film Festival's Bedfringe screenings. Narrowly missing out on winning a chance to be screened then, The Place Theatre suggested the film could instead be a great chance to raise cash for some local charities.

Mayor Dave Hodgson said: "This is a fun way to raise some money for some excellent local charities. A big thanks to the Bedford Film Festival and The Place Theatre for providing this opportunity for people to enjoy a very silly, very funny film while supporting some great causes."

The screening will take place on Friday 5th February 2016, starting at 19:30. With 100% of the ticket price going to charity thanks to The Place Theatre donating their venue for free and Bedford Film Festival covering the film licence costs.

Laura Pottinger, Venue Manager at The Place Theatre, and Paul Hutchinson, Co-Founding Director of Bedford Film Festival, say the evening will be a perfect night of classic cinema and charity: "We're really pleased to be working together to support the Mayor's Charities with this Blazing Saddles evening, which will also include a charity raffle. We're both great supporters of cinema and have been looking to work together for some time. To be able to collaborate together for the benefit of the local community is perfect."

Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.theplacebedford.org.uk

Funds raised via the The Mayor's Charity are currently supporting excellent local charities, namely Bedford Foodbank, Autism Bedfordshire and the Bedford Sea Cadets.

• Bedford Film Festival is a not for profit organisation created to support film variety in Bedford
• The Place Theatre is a community venue supporting professional and voluntary performing arts