The sister of John Lennon joined Merseyside actor Ricky Tomlinson today to launch national Beatles Day at Alder Hey’s Children’s Hospital.
The day, which will be held on the 10th of July, will raise money for the Imagine charity, Liverpool Unites and the Marina Dalglish Appeal. Raising £50,000 last-year, organizers hope this years event will go worldwide, with Royle Family star Ricky promising to rope in a string of celebrity pals. Ricky said: “Last year I got an invite to compre the first show and when I heard it was for the Imagine Appeal I agreed straight away. “Since then it has been an amazing success, no-one could ever have dreamt it would take off like it has. “Every band last year performed out of their skin and I was delighted. “This year I’m going to get all my celeb pals to come along. “I can’t say who I have asked yet but there will be some big names coming along. “I don’t care how busy they are, they can always make time to come down and do something for a good cause. “All they need to do is come and say ‘Hello Liverpool, how are you doing’ “It’s all for a great cause so it shouldn’t be a problem. “It’s going to be fantastic.” John Lennon’s sister Julia Baird, a trustee of Beatle’s Day, admitted she was delighted to be involved in the day, claiming John would have “loved the idea.” She added: “Last year went really well but now we want Beatles day to go worldwide. “The Beatles are known everywhere, in Rio, France, America, everyone knows who the Beatles are. “Hopefully these countries will pick up on the Beatles day and donate some money towards a good cause. “The children are our tomorrow, what is the point in living without children, none whatsoever. “We want children to be healthy and to move forward so they can move our whole society forward. “John would have loved the day, I think he would have been celebrating the day in a Beatle wig having the time of his life.” The Imagine Appeal raises money children at Alder Hey, while Liverpool Unites was set up in memory of Rhys Jones. The Marina Dalglish Appeal started in 2004 after Marina, wife of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish, was diagnosed with breast cancer.