[Red Moon]

BB Nicky's family support hospice

While Nicky Maxwell this week celebrated her 28th birthday in the Big Brother house, friends and family of the Watford accounts executive held a special event of their own at Aldenham Golf Club.

Had Nicky not been cooped up in the house in Borehamwood, she would have attended the charity golf day at Aldenham on Wednesday.

The event was arranged by Nicky's aunt Sandra Churchill, from Bushey, to raise money for the Peace Hospice, Watford.

Nicky was also due to take part in the Starlight Walk for the hospice in Cassiobury Park on Saturday, June 16, however, her entry into the BB house means she will probably have to wait until next year to achieve this goal.

Nicky and her cousin, Karina Churchill, both raised funds for the hospice by abseiling down The Harlequin shopping centre last year as part of a team entered by Ladbrokes.

Sandra, 55, is the charity co-ordinator for 14 Ladbrokes shops in the Watford and St Albans area. Nicky and Sandra are particularly close, as she moved in with her aunt when she was just nine years old.

A major reason behind the family's fundraising efforts for the hospice is Roy Arnold, who died in the hospice four years ago. Roy was the best friend of Nicky's uncle Les.

Sandra told the Watford Observer on Wednesday that Nicky has always been committed to raising money for charity.

"Nicky is a big supporter of charities," Sandra said.

"When she saw that the abseil was on she immediately volunteered to do it. She raised more than £300 and the whole group she did it with raised more than £1,000 which was doubled by Ladbrokes."

Karina, 32, a car trader from Bovingdon, said: "The abseil off The Harlequin was fantastic.

"It was really good fun. Nicky and I are both scared of heights and we were petrified going over the edge. Nicky was very nervous, but when she did it she absolutely loved it. She got really into it."

Although Nicky only entered the house ten days ago, Sandra and Karina have not seen her for more than three weeks as all the contestants were taken to secret locations abroad two weeks before the start of Big Brother.

Seeing Nicky crying during her birthday on Sunday was hard for her family back home - last year they had all been on holiday in Crete and the whole hotel sang to her.

Nicky was also a witness to the incident of racism between Emily and Charley that saw Emily removed from the Big Brother house.

But Sandra and Karina think that Nicky's stay in the house will be a "fantastic experience" for her.

"We have loved watching her," Sandra said. "But she has been a bit in the background so far. She has not been jumping on the furniture.

"It has been very interesting to see her and I think she has been coming across really well on television."

Source: Watford Observer