Ruth Braddock, 66, is staging a charity drag night at The Engine Room on Watnall Road Aerodrome on November 19, which will be headlined by Zandra Experience – aka Mark Preston – who has raised more than £400,000 for various charities by appearing at venues and events across Nottinghamshire in the last 20 years.
The night in Hucknall will raise funds for Danielles Flutterbyes, which Ruth started in 2015 to help young people living with kidney disease in the Nottinghamshire area hospitals after she tragically lost her daughter Danielle to the illness on Christmas night in 2014.
And both Ruth and Mark are kindred spirits in that they have both known huge lows mentally in coping with loss and trauma – and both have come through to the other side.
Ruth said: “A few years ago, he (Mark) was in a bad place, he’d lost his wife and he tried to commit suicide.
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“But he was persuaded by his friend to go along with him to a drag night and dress up as a woman and if he didn’t like it, he didn’t have to do it again.
“But instead, he’s never looked back and for the last 20 years he’s dressed up as a woman to raise money for various charities and events, mainly around Nottinghamshire, and he’s raised more than £400,000 since then.
“And as part of that, in the last few years, he’s raised more than £4,000 for my charity.
“He’s just a dream and I put him forward for a Pride of Britain Award and he was shortlisted and made the last four in the country.
“He was beaten in the end by a woman who helps people with gambling addictions.
For Ruth, Mark’s story of personal tragedy and despair rang true with her own experiences when her daughter died.
And like him, she has used the pain of that to turn away from the darkest places to find inspiration in helping others.
She continued: “For me personally, when I lost Danielle when she was 24, I was in a dark place and thought I would follow her because I felt such profound loss.
“I did consider trying to commit suicide because I just felt I couldn’t go on without her, even though I have another daughter.
“But she said me that we needed to do something and I knew I didn’t want other young people to go through what Danielle went through because it was horrendous.
“So we decided to set up a charity to help other people and we’ve never looked back and doing it has helped me massively as I now love to put smiles on the faces we help and I know that everything we do is in her memory.”
As well as Zandra, the event in Hucknall will also feature performances from Andy Ska, Sharon Swallowz, The Devi’s, Glittery Gin, Cosmo and Sarah Jane, as well Congratulations Disco.
For tickets and more information, contact Ruth on 07882 388470, or visit the website here.
