Ah, Bristow! Darts star Eric pays visit to club

'The Crafty Cockney', a five-time darts world champion, was the main attraction at the fund-raising evening held at the Pattingham Club, near Bridgnorth.

The event raised more than £2,000 for two separate charities and featured a raffle where ten lucky winners got to pit their skills against Bristow over a leg of darts.

'The Crafty Cockney' became a household name in the 1980s, using a combination of his skill and personality to help turn darts into a worldwide spectator sport.

The darts evening took place last Friday (APR23) and was organised by Neil Taylor, 45, who owns The Fox at Shipley.

Mr Taylor has raised more than £80,000 for charity over the past four years and has been inspired to do so by his daughter's experiences.

He said: "My daughter Kiahna has had to have five operations because of a heart problem and I have raised money for the hospital because it does such a fantastic job.

"We managed to get Eric there through Nigel Pearson, who lives in Wombourne and works with Eric on Sky television's darts coverage.

"It was an absolutely fantastic night, not only did Eric play the raffle winners, he took part in a Q&A sessions and there was also an auction.

"We raised £2,017 from the evening and that will be split between Birmingham Children's Hospital and Breast Cancer Now, the latter charity chosen because one of my friend's lost his wife to breast cancer."

Mr Taylor is now preparing for two challenges he is taking on later in the year in an effort to raise yet more money.

In October he will walking up the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, but a few weeks before he will be tackling a Lands End to John O'Groats cycle ride.