Hats off to them, they have done it again.

The fantastic Fab Four fundraisers who lurk in the dark recesses of the Orb club have raised another staggering £1,400 for a fantastic local cause (ok £1,401 to be precise - I know Gill is a stickler for accuracy).

In a memorial night dedicated to Eileen Prime, the Fab Four, consisting of Gill Prime, Sandra Pearton, Rose Troath and big-hearted Keith Toms, managed to raise enough cash to provide a state-of-the-art Vital Observation machine (measures blood pressure, pulse and oxygen saturation levels) and six fans for cardiac ward D3 East at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport.

The team went about the task with their usual enthusiasm, making sure that the hordes of people who attended the evening left with beaming smiles and empty pockets. Working flat out as always, the Fab Four kept the evening alive with an auction and raffle.

Entertainment was provided by the talented vocals of Maxine .

As usual, a great cause was supported by a great team, ensuring everyone who attended had a great night out.

Special thanks to Jimmy Oliver (Butcher) and Germania Cars for the fans, and Linda Kilganon for the tickets.

Charity Launch: This week saw the official launch of my Mayoral Charity appeal. Our chosen charities are Newport Scouts and Guides and we are also supporting Just One Child, a South African Charity that provides a home for children orphaned or abandoned by parents affected by Aids.

Over the coming months I, along with the help of a very willing charity committee, have arranged lots of different money raising events and would welcome any suggestions that you also may have.

Why Scouts and Guides? Although I do not have a scouting background myself, I do know that providing children with something to do and somewhere to go is the best way of reducing antisocial behaviour and produces youngsters we can be proud of instead of being afraid of.

Few other organisations get as many youngsters off the streets as the Scout and Guide movement or produce finer examples of what our youngsters can achieve if we encourage them.

My mayoral year also coincides with the 100th anniversary of the scouting movement.

The money raised will be used to train adults to work with the youngsters, with the aim of providing even more activities to keep them occupied and out of mischief, As for Just One Child, imagine that you are a child abandoned in the HIV-ravaged streets of a large South African Town.

There are hundreds just like you, Some, not yet into double figures of age themselves, have full responsibility for bringing up a younger sibling.

No hope, no family, no home. Just occasionally one or two of these children will find his or her way to a home provided by Just One Child, with money raised by people they will never meet but who love them, living in comparative luxury thousands of miles away.

A child with a tear in its eye is something that affects us all, no matter where in the world they are living.

There is, and always will be, just one humanity.