By Paul McGill from NICVA
Published on 24 Oct 2005
Paul McGill chats with Emmerdale's Patrick Mower about charity-celebrity partnerships and the actor's support for children's causes.
The entire cast of Emmerdale is planning to come to Belfast for a weekend charity bash - Eric, Jack, Victoria, Emily, Tom, Edna, Zak and the rest.
Patrick Mower, who plays Rodney Blackstock in the popular ITV soap, told www.nicva.org that the cast does a lot of work for charity. Last year they raised £500,000 for a range of good causes.
Soon he will be joining his colleagues for a crazy wing walking stunt in Aberdeen to raise more money. And after that, a trip across the Irish Sea is on the cards.
"We're also planning an Emmerdale weekend in Northern Ireland, but we haven't finalised the arrangements yet," Patrick said.
The celebrity revealed the plan in an interview with the editor of SCOPE magazine before presenting the trophies at a glittering gala dinner for the NICVA Link Awards.
He has been here before, the last time being to appear in Gaslight at the Grand Opera House, an extended stint that allowed him to see some of Northern Ireland.
"I love it," Patrick commented. "It's lovely countryside and hopefully it will become a tourist haven - and the people are wonderful."
By coincidence, Leah Bracknell, who plays Zoe Tate in Emmerdale, will soon come to Belfast to perform in Gaslight in the same theatre along with Peter Amory, who played the part of her brother, Chris Tate, who died in the soap two years ago.
Patrick's charities
In real life Patrick used to run a youth club and supports SPARKS, a charity that funds research into serious diseases affecting children such as spina bifida and cerebral palsey. He is also very interested in children's charity NSPCC and fundraises for it - later in the evening he was to find another pleasant coincidence because NSPCC nominated the winner of the Link Award, the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
"But I don't lend my name to a charity without doing some research on it," he added. "You have to be careful because there are a few dodgy ones around."
How to work with a celebrity
So what advice does Patrick have for people in voluntary and community organisations thinking about involving a celebrity? He pauses for a moment and says: "Ask - you would be surprised how useful that is. Most celebrities realise how lucky they are and the bigger the celebrity the smaller their conceit."
"Because I have been lucky enough to be famous I have been involved in a lot of charities and I realise the hard work that goes on behind the scenes.
"If you use the metaphor of the duck on water, I'll be on the surface but there are many, many webbed feet preparing the event and the people who deserve the awards. They deserve all the credit, not someone like me," Patrick said.
IMAGE: courtesy of Parkway Photography.
Visit the Parkway website to view and purchase photographs from the Link gala dinner. You will need a password to use the site which you can obtain by phoning Tara at NICVA on 
028 9087 7777.
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