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Beano artist Jim Dewar’s whale of a creation boosts kidney charity funds

By John Freeman on October 30, 2013

Wilfred Whale, the creation of Beano artist Jim Dewar

Wilfred Whale, the creation of Beano artist Jim Dewar, helped the kidney cancer charity the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer raise more than £2000 in a special auction run by radio and tv host James Whale at the Castle Galleries in Glasgow last week.

Jim’s Wilfred Whale also features The Beano‘s Dennis and Gnasher, and he also made the outline picture of a whale used by a host of celebrities, including other artists and TV stars, to design their own.

“The event was a great success with a very good turnout” Sylwia Lysakowska, a spokesperson for James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer, told downthetubes. “Over 40 people attended on the evening including customers of the gallery, patients, family and friends. All were well looked after by Castle Galleries who provided all the hospitality.

“Kidney Cancer Scotland has raised over £2000 and the whale donated by DC Thomson raised the most money – £400. The auctioneer on the night was James Whale, himself a survivor of kidney cancer. Along with the whales, lunch and a question and answer session with Scotland’s first Minister Alex Salmond was also auctioned.

“All money raised will go towards helping children with kidney cancer and their families, by supporting them at this difficult time,” Sylwia tells us.

“The most common paediatric kidney cancer is Wilms’ tumour, which makes up to 95 per cent of childhood kidney cancers. Wilms’ tumour or nephroblastoma, is a very rare type of kidney cancer that affects children. It is named after a German doctor, Dr Max Wilms (1867-1918), who first described it. Wilms’ tumour afflicts about 70 children per year in the UK, and is curable in 90 per cent of cases.

“Thank you to everyone who helped organising the event, celebrities from the world of music, comedy, politics, art and TV who came together to help raise money to support children diagnosed with kidney  cancer.”

“These unique pieces of art will be proudly displayed by their new owners and enjoyed for many years to come.

All the money raised will go towards providing support for children with kidney cancer and their families.

• The James Whale Fund is at www.jameswhalefund.org and would welcome your support

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.