A BLACKPOOL nightspot is well and truly getting into the Christmas spirit - with the launch of a new charity campaign.

Brannigans on Market Street is pulling out all the stops to raise £16,500 to enable the Mothers of Sexually Abused Children (MOSAC) to fund a caravan for two years, providing much needed holiday respite for victims and their families.

General manager of Brannigans Jim McIntyre (pictured) told the Citizen: "It's about time people started talking about this controversial subject and realising something practical needs to be done.

"MOSAC currently have very little in the way of funding, particularly for a charity that deals with an issue which is increasingly in the public eye, so the team at Brannigans are joining with some of the other venues in the town to do something about it and give something back to Blackpool."

With the current total standing at £3,000, just a few of of the fun events for the future include a pub crawl, charity band nights and even a sponsored abseil down Blackpool Tower by Brannigans DJ Keith Peters in full Santa suit. And kicking off in style is the first major event on Sunday at the World Famous Palace Nightclub from 10pm.

"The Palace is our sister club," explained Jim. "And we needed a big venue to launch the campaign in style.

"DJs from all over the town will be taking part including Joe Curran from Addisons, Lionel Vinyl from Heaven and Hell as well as the Palace's own Fubar and Joey Blower.

Jim added: "It's important to remember sexual abuse can happen in any family and as you get lower down the social scale, families often just don't have the money to get away from the scene of the abuse and make a fresh start.

"Children who have suffered this terrible abuse often feel to blame and need to get away for things to be put into perspective.

"MOSAC, whose patron is Tracy Dawson, provide a very necessary service which guarantees these children a secret location and assistance to find further accommodation."

Anyone wishing to make a donation to this worthy cause can contact Brannigans on (01253) 752277 or the Citizen, St Annes Buildings, Clifton Drive North, St Annes on Sea, FY8 2NA.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.