HIGH jinks at a Blackpool nightclub have helped fund a major sexual health initiative in the town.

Since it opened in 1999, the Mardi Gras nightclub in Talbot Road has raised more than £30,000 to help Blackpool-based charity Body Positive to provide support for people living with HIV and AIDS.

And a recent end-of-season all-day charity event at the gay-friendly nightclub raised more than £3,000 to help in the fight against HIV. Resident cabaret star Miss Stella Artois masterminded the event and was thrilled with its success. "The customers were fantastic, literally throwing money on to the stage," she said.

"And our bar staff donated their wages. They are are skint now but I know they're chuffed to have helped make the day such a success."

Body Positive chairman Norman Bines said the money would be used to produce leaflets promoting understanding of sexual health.

"Preventing the spread of HIV is a major part of the work we do at Body Positive. Nowadays that means we have to look at sexual behaviour generally rather than in an HIV-specific way.

"There's strong evidence that many of us are not looking after our sexual health as well as could be and this means other sexually transmitted infections, as well as HIV, are almost certainly going to be involved," he said. The charity aims to produce a series of coloured leaflets to help people understand what sexual health involves and what choices they have to stay healthy. The leaflets will be packed in an eye-catching dispenser to suit a wide range of outlets. "We're containing costs by printing in-house and this latest injection of funds, for which we are extremely grateful, will allow us to make a good start on the project," he said. The leaflets should be ready by spring next year.