Our wonderful Patron, Alfie Boe, celebrates his birthday today, and his legions of fans will be donating to his chosen charity – Trinity Hospice and Brian House Children’s Hospice.

Each year, Alfie donates his birthday to one of his charities, and this year he has selected our charity as his birthday beneficiary.

In particular, Alfie is lending his support to the China Trekkers – a team of 22 people including Trinity staff who will spend five days walking along the Great Wall of China in aid of Brian House from next week.

Donations can be made online via a page on JustGiving, set up by the Alfie Boe fan blog, thoughtsofjustafan.

Alfie’s fans have been supporting Trinity Hospice and Brian House since Alfie became patron of the Bispham-based charity in 2011. Most recently they raised more than £1,200 during an Alfie Boe YouTube Marathon, where fans spent a weekend watching videos of the singer online and made a donation.

Jane Ireland, who runs the fan blog said: “Fans of Alfie are very dedicated and like to support his chosen charities as much as we can, and Trinity is one that we know is close to Alfie’s heart.

“Earlier this year, Alfie donated a portion of the ticket sale for his Fleetwood concert to Trinity and we at thoughtsofjustafan decided to continue to support Alfie and Trinity when the opportunity arose.

“Donating to Trinity seems like the perfect way to celebrate Alfie’s birthday and support his local charity at the same time.”

Among the China Trekkers is our own Corporate Fundraiser, Janet Atkins.

She said: “The whole team has been working hard in preparation for China, making ourselves mentally and physically ready for what we know will be a gruelling challenge. It isn’t going to be easy as we will be walking for up to eight hours each day, but knowing we have Alfie’s support means so much to us and I know it will help us when things get really tough.

“Alfie has been a fantastic supporter to us over the years, and we are absolutely thrilled that he has chosen to support us again as part of his birthday celebrations. It means so much to us, and we’re so grateful to all the amazing fans he has who donate from around the world in his name.”