Edgbaston to host gala dinner to raise awareness of Motor Neurone Disease

Multiple celebrities have signed up to take part in a glittering Masked Entertainer gala dinner at Edgbaston Stadium to raise awareness and vital funds for Motor Neurone Disease research.

The event at the home of Warwickshire CCC will take place on April 12, 2025 for the Mel Evans MBE Foundation, set up in memory of Mel Evans, a renowned Crown Green Bowls player who sadly died of MND in 2017.

The foundation was set up by Mel’s wife, Lynn Pritchatt, and this event is the second major gala dinner she has organised after a fundraiser at Headingley in Leeds last year.

The special guests on the night included former England and Liverpool footballer Dominic Matteo, host of Channel 4’s The Last Leg, Adam Hills and rugby league legend Rob Burrow, who died from MND in June 2024.

Lynn is promising another line-up of famous faces at the spring event, which will also welcome former England cricketer Chris Broad and former Sunderland and Bristol Rovers footballer Marcus Stewart, who is living with MND.

Birmingham-born Lynn, who now lives in Cannock, said: “Headingley was the first time I had organised a gala dinner of this magnitude. I wanted to do something novel which would capture people's imagination.

“The memories are so special. I thought about what to do next long and hard and here we are in Birmingham, the city of my birth! As with the last event, there’s a serious undertone but we want to make it fun.”

Born in 1952, Mel was a passionate cricket player in his youth and was offered a contract with Warwickshire County Cricket Club.

However, he took a different path, working as an auditor for Finning (UK) for more than 40 years and developing a passion for Crown Green Bowls.

Mel played at the highest level, earning more than 100 caps for his county of Staffordshire.

He also worked tirelessly to bring the sport back to terrestrial television and was awarded an MBE in the Queens New Year’s Honours in 2012 for services to Crown Green Bowling.

In 2016, Mel was diagnosed with MND when he had only just become a grandfather to baby Isabelle – news which came as a terrible shock to the family.

Lynn said: “As is often the case, it came from nowhere. He was strong, fit and healthy.

“At first, we thought Mel had had a stroke because his arm kept dropping. We were eventually sent down the neurology path and that confirmed the diagnosis.

“Our journey from there was 15 months, and the average when dealt such a devastating diagnosis is two years.

“Thankfully, it’s a very different world now to when we had our diagnosis. Back then it was very much ‘We can't tell you how long, so go and live your life and get your affairs in order’.”

Lynn is looking to attract more partner businesses to complement the British Crown Green Bowling Association, which has made the Foundation its nominated charity.

There are also several sponsorship packages available for the gala night at Edgbaston and Lynn is encouraging any businesses who want to get involved to get in touch via email at lynn@melevansfoundation.org.uk.

Click here for more information on the Mel Evans MBE Foundation.