A VETERAN fund-raiser and entertainer has raised more than £100,000 for charity and was asked to provide an impromptu performance by music legends Foster and Allen to celebrate.

Reg Box made the unexpected appearance on stage at Malvern Theatres and was honoured with a standing ovation.

Mr Box, aged 91, regularly performs for the Midlands Air Ambulance but was expecting to be entertained himself when he went to see Foster and Allen on Thursday, November 5.

The pensioner, whose stage name is Mr Oldie, was stunned to be called up on stage and obliged with a rendition of You’re My Best Friend. He said: “There was a lot of applause and then they asked me to sing.”

As he sang the audience stood up and waved their arms and at the end of the song Mr Box received a heartfelt standing ovation.

“I don’t know how they knew about my fund-raising but it was lovely to be on stage with them,” he said.

“I’ve always admired Foster and Allen. I used to go and see them with my wife, she was a fan too.”

He lost his wife Gwendoline six years ago and when she died he put her favourite Foster and Allen world tour video in her coffin.

Mr Box, from Malvern, has supported the air ambulance since a friend was badly injured in a car crash in 1995 and was airlifted to hospital.

He runs bingo evenings every Friday and alternate Sundays at Malvern Town football club and entertains audiences as Mr Oldie in hotels, nursing homes and village halls. He performs Max Bygraves songs and Foster and Allen numbers.

At the beginning of December he will hand over a cheque to the air ambulance for £5,000, taking his total to £100,000.