TOP North West comedians are coming together for a special gig to give children and young people with complex communication needs a voice.

The event, which is being headlined by some of the region’s hottest and rising talent, is raising funds and awareness after local Failsworth charity The Ace Centre was targeted by callous thieves leaving children without the means of communication.

The Ace Centre, a national charity which provides specialist equipment, training and support to children and adults, was recently burgled with more than £150,000 worth of augmented alternative communication (AAC) devices stolen.

It included the theft of state-of-the-art equipment including eye-gaze technology. The equipment was integral to the assessment work provided by the specialists at the charity meaning families have faced delays in support and finding their voice.

Now some of the region’s leading stand-up comics are now putting on a show to raise awareness of the vital work the ACE Centre does and to raise funds to help children in the North West communicate with the world around them.

Ace Centre chief executive, Anna Reeves said it had been overwhelmed by the response of the Oldham and wider community.

She said: “The support we’ve received in terms of donations and people raising awareness of our work has been phenomenal. It is enabling us to turn a difficult situation into positive action to help and empower more people to communicate and live their everyday lives.”

The comedy event is the brainchild of stand-up comedian Sam Gore, who also works with children with special education needs, including 10-year-old Sam who’s benefited from ACE Centre’s expertise.

Seeing the impact of Ace Centre’s expertise first hand Sam’s called in favours from the comedy industry to arrange two high profile charity gigs (Liverpool and Manchester) to support the charity’s vital work.

“At the heart of all of this are the many children like Sam that the ACE Centre supports, locally and all over the country. The comedy circuit believes that every child should have a voice, which is we’re choosing to Stand Up and Speak Out to help them regain and develop theirs.” Sam said.

In Manchester, The Frog & Bucket are backing him by opening their doors on Wednesday December 12 to host a top line-up of some of the city’s hottest comedy talent including Manchester comedy legends like Justin Moorhouse (Phoenix Nights, Looking for Eric) and Mick Ferry (Michael Macintyre’s Comedy Roadshow) and international headliners like Matt Stellingwerf (winner of four New Zealand Comedy Guild awards.) The night will be hosted by Bethany Black, another Manchester comedian and star of Russell T Davies’ Banana and Cucumber on Channel 4.