Laffs 4 Kids: Comedy night receives over 14,000 Christmas presents for children in the North East

Laffs 4 Kids is comedy night, created by South Shields comedian Jason Cook in order to provide poverty-stricken families with gifts for children at Christmas. At this year’s show, which took place yesterday (December 11), over 14,000 gifts were donated to children in the North East.

Each attendee brings a gift (or as many as they would like, there were people there with shopping bags full), to the show. The gifts are then taken to a warehouse, and distributed by social workers to the children who need them.

The generous gift-givers are paid back with a night of fun, hilarity and Christmas spirit by Cook and his fellow comedian friends.

I attended the show last night for the first time in its eight year run, and have decided to make it a yearly tradition - and speaking with other audience members, I realised that many of them do the same.

The shows are for such an important cause, and being a part of that feels incredibly special. But also the comedy, the collective festive spirit and good feeling of all around you is an additional bonus.

Cook was hilarious as ever in his hosting duty, and the comedians (who all appeared for free) brought wonderfully hilarious sets to the show. The comedians who performed included Matt Richardson, Carl Hutchinson, Clinton Baptiste, Scott Bennett, Anth Young, Peter Brush, Brennan Reece and Tom Taylor.

Musician and fellow funny man, Glen Roughead performed with Cook and with a live band, Bay 6. He and Jason performed original songs with hilarious lyrics with North East references throughout. At the end of the show, Glen and Bay 6 performed popular hits to get everyone on their feet and dancing.

As the total was counted at the end of the evening show, Cook was emotional and incredibly thankful for all of the donations. The other comedians and the audience members appeared moved by the result also. The show was incredibly heart-warming and uplifting and the perfect way to spend the season of giving.