EVERYONE is invited to paint the town red!

For the Bury Hospice Red Rose Festival is aiming to put the "fun" into fundraising as the annual event gets underway.

And this year, up-and-coming Coronation Street actress Jodie Hamblet has agreed to become the first Red Rose Festival Princess and the face of the month-long extravaganza.

Street fans will know the 15-year-old from Rossendale as Gemma Davenport. She is also a member of the the Bury-based Carol Godby Theatre Workshop.

This is the 13th year of the festival and each year it has raised around £30,000 for the hospice in Dumers Lane, Radcliffe.

Mervyn Reeves, hospice fundraising manager, said: "This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and there will be something for everyone and no excuse not to get involved!

"It is a fun festival to be part of. This year we have done extremely well in securing the help of the highly acclaimed Smithills School Band for our "Last Night of the Proms' St George's Day Concert. There will, of course, be the popular Holcombe Hill Challenge and the Red Rose Ball."

The festival officially started on March 31 with a President's quiz night and ends on April 29 with an evening on the East Lancashire Railway.

Mrs Reeves added: "Now is the time to get involved, either in purchasing tickets, particularly for the concert and the ELR event which will sell fast, or in signing up to take part in events."

Bury Hospice, despite receiving some support in the form of a grant from the local health authority, depends on donations to keep it open. Every year, the fundraising committee is charged with the task of raising in the region of £900,000.

"We have had tremendous support from the people of the borough, and we are now looking to increase the services we provide.

"For example, we will be piloting a new hospice at home' programme, where a person can be cared for in their home. This would mean moving the care they would receive in the hospice into their home. But it will take a lot of funding.

"However, we are confident that with the support of local people we will be able to fund the service. But this new project will take our costs over a million pounds," said Mr Reeves.

To mark the Red Rose Festival, local people will be asked to make a donation and don a red rose, which will be on sale at shops and other outlets throughout the borough.

Mr Reeves commented: "The Red Rose Festival is important in raising awareness of the hospice and the work it does within Bury, which has longer term benefits. We really hope that as many people as possible get involved in the festival. Given the amount of events going on, there really will be something to interest everybody."

Red Rose Festival 2005 timetable

April 2: Red Rose Ball at the Longfield Suite, Prestwich, with a reception at 7pm and a five-course dinner at 7.30pm. Tickets are £26.

April 6: Spring fair and coffee morning at 10am at the Elizabethan Suite, Bury. Admission is £1 and includes a free raffle ticket.

April 17: Holcombe Hill Challenge. Starting at 11am from the Hare and Hounds pub in Holcombe Brook. For further information ring 01204 88 7305.

April 23: St George's Day Old English Dinner and St George's Day Concert. The concert will be staged at Radcliffe Civic Suite at 7.30pm. Tickets are £5.

April 29: Red Rose Special on the East Lancashire Railway travelling in a Pullman-style dining coach. Cost is £50 per person.

For more information on all the events or to book tickets, contact the fundraising centre, 89 The Rock, Bury or by ringing 0161 797 1748.