Brand gives £60k to drug charity
Gift to the rehab centre that helped him
Russell Brand has donated £60,000 to a drugs rehab charity to help save it from closure.The comedian was once treated at Suffolk-based Focus12, and has given regularly to help its estimated £1,000-a-day running costs.
His latest gift brings the total he has handed over to the charity to almost £200,000. His fans set up a fundraising drive on Facebook that raised another £4,000.
Chip Somers, who founded the charity in 1997, said he was ‘grateful and relieved’ for Brand’s donation.
He told the Bury Free Press: ‘Russell has given us in the region of £60,000 for the next 12 months, which is certainly going to give us a temporary reprieve and allow us some time to rebuild our fund-raising strategy. It gives us some breathing space, although it hasn't rescued us completely’
‘In the five or six years since he left Focus12, he has made regular and substantial donations. He has given us almost £200,000 during that time.
Brand’s gift, plus a grant from Suffolk County Council, in April, will keep Focus12 in operation until the summer.
Former heroin addict Brand is a patron of the charity, alongside Davina McCall.
It runs a 12-week abstinence programme, which costs £4,500 per person.
Published: 23 Jan 2009
