A BOREHAMWOOD mother is promoting a charity that helps children with cleft lips after raising money by holding a memorial gig for her late musician father.

Michelle Newman held the event earlier this month at the 606 Jazz Club, in London, in memory of her father Martin Drew who died last July.

Mr Drew, 66, was a drummer and played with musicians including American pianist Oscar Peterson and with the Ronnie Scott Quintet. He started playing the drums at the age of six.

He played with Ronnie Scott from 1975 to 1995 and played venues including Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, the Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House.

His most recent project was The New Couriers, which paid tribute to the music of Ronnie Scott, Victor Feldman and Michael Brecker among others.

The money raised from the event was donated to CLAPA (The Cleft Lip and Palate Association).

Mrs Newman’s eldest daughter, Gemma, nine, was born with a cleft lip and will be undergoing further surgery at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. She said: “My dad was a loving husband, father, doting grandfather and supporter of Great Ormond Street and CLAPA and therefore it seemed like the most appropriate charity to support at this time.

“We raised about £730 on the night so we’re really happy that we were able to hold the event for such an important charity.

“I had amazing support from the charity with Gemma. We found out she had a cleft lip at my 20-week scan and she had surgery at three months old.

“CLAPA were superb but this is just the start of the journey for us as further operations will be done at Great Ormond Street.

“It was very emotional for the family remembering dad at the gig because we loved seeing him play. This in a way became a memorial for dad and hopefully he was smiling down on us.”