A fund set up in memory of a young Shipley cancer victim has raised £9,000 which will be used to help would-be actors.

Jenson Marriot, who died in January at the age of 21, had already won a place in a BBC drama and was hoping to make a career out of acting.

His mother, Sharon, says the fund will be used to help budding young black actors from poor backgrounds pay for their higher education drama studies.

The latest fundraising effort involves one of Jenson's best friends - a mum-to-be who is running a 'guess the weight of my baby' contest to help boost the fund.

Alexa Metcalfe, 22, of Greengates, is expecting her first baby on July 1 and has been asking friends and family to guess its weight.

Jenson would have been asked to be godfather to the child if he had lived.

People are being asked to choose a weight between 6lb and 12lb in return for a minimum donation of £1 to the Jenson Marriott Memorial Scholarship Fund for Actors.

The winners will receive a bottle of champagne, donated by Jason Argyle, of The Park pub in Keighley Road, Frizinghall, where Alexa used to work.

The Nab Wood Grammar School special needs support assistant said she hoped the contest would raise several hundred pounds for the fund.

Alexa met Jenson when they were pupils at Nab Wood Middle School and studied for her drama GCSE with him at Nab Wood Grammar.

"We were best friends and he was my number one soul mate so I really wanted to do something to raise money for the charity,'' she said.

"With us being such good friends Jenson would have been godfather to the baby when it was born.

"I discovered I was expecting at the same time he found out he was ill so I thought it would be nice to involve the baby in the fundraising and this was the first thing I thought of.

"I think the charity's fantastic and I don't think Sharon could have thought of anything better to keep Jenson's name alive.''

Sharon said: "Even when heavily pregnant Alexa wanted to do something to help and came up with this brilliant idea which is a measure of how much she cares for Jenson.''

Anyone wishing to guess the weight of Alexa's baby or wanting to make a donation to the fund at Shipley's Midland Bank - can email Sharon at sharonm@legend.co.uk

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