This week’s benefit gig featuring  Beautiful South’s Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott has raised more than £6,000 for the Wythenshawe Community Initiative.

Heaton and Abbott performed an acoustic set at the gig at Hotel Football, Old Trafford on Tuesday night, supported by up and coming Stoke-based band, the Gurus.

The cash raised will help with the work of the Woodhouse Park-based Wythenshawe Community Initiative in providing a support for children and families in the area. The group also received a £4,000 donation last week.

Paul Heaton was frontman for the popular 90s band Beautiful South, who had hits with A Little Time and Perfect 10. He paid tribute to the organisers of the event on Twitter and Facebook.

@PaulHeatonSolo Brilliant gig, loved it and for such a great cause ☺

— Lou Hughson (@Lou_Loops) January 21, 2016

And Wythenshawe Community Initiative, manager Clare North said the cash raised will make a massive contribution to the charity’s work. She said: “The gig was a fantastic evening for all involved and an amazing opportunity for a local charity like Wythenshawe Community Initiative to raise both money and awareness of the work we do.

“Massive thanks must go to Tony and Debbie O’Neill who put an awful lot of hard work into organising the event and of course to Hotel Football for hosting it. We were so lucky to have acts like Paul Heaton, Jacqui Abbott and up and coming band The Gurus perform for us and they were all just brilliant.

“We were staggered by the goodwill of all the people involved in putting on the gig behind the scenes as well because without them it wouldn’t have happened. The money raised will make a huge difference to the Centre and our work, not least to our current fundraising target of £50,000 to transform our garden and play area.”

Anyone wanting  to make a donation to the charity  can contact them on 0161 4980292, email info@whpfamilycentre.co.uk or find them on Facebook (WHP Family Centre) and Twitter (@WHPFC).