Take That as singer Gary helps raise more than £60,000 for charity

The Take That front man made a guest appearance at Dinnington-born Eliot’s gig at 

Doncaster Sheffield Airport on November 12.

The event at the iconic Vulcan Experience in Hangar 3 raised £65,000 for Hidden Wounds, a division of Help for Heroes which supports ex-soldiers with mental illnesses.

Eliot said he had hassled his friend of more than 20 years to perform at one of his charity events and this time he finally managed to get a space in Gary’s hectic diary.

Eliot said: “It was Remembrance Weekend and I knew I wanted to put the event on that weekend, but I knew he wasn’t available.

“But, he cancelled a Take That trip and he said: “El, I’m going to be there for you”.

The charity became close to the friends’ hearts after they visited Camp Bastion in Afghanistan to entertain the troops in 2013 which was turned into a TV documentary.

It was an experience Eliot said, changed his life.

The sold out event, where tickets went for £100, honoured Jimi Heselden, the Leeds miner turned multi-millionaire inventor of the HESCO bastion ‘blast wall’, used to fortify military defences and credited with saving thousands of lives. 

His invention gave the name to Camp Bastion.

Joanne Heselden-Edwards, Jimi’s daughter, performed at the event along with guest artists and a 17-piece swing band

Joanne’s new single, also called Hidden Wounds, will raise money for the charity.

For more information visit hiddenwoundsconcert.com.