FRIENDS and family including celebrity hairdresser Lee Stafford paid tribute to a popular musician who helped to raise more than £50,000 for Bury Hospice at a special memorial service. 

Ted Selby, aged 88, died in May after suffering from bowel cancer, and around 70 people attended Bury Hospice on Tuesday to honour his memory. 

Before his death Mr Selby dedicated 13 years of his life to perform in old people’s homes across Greater Manchester, in return for donations to the hospice.

He appeared on the Channel 4 show The Secret Millionaire in 2011, which sees millionaires go undercover and find worthy causes which need their help and met Mr Stafford, who was searching for groups to support.

Mr Stafford donated £16,000, which saw Mr Selby’s total reach £50,000 after he had raised £34,000 himself during his shows as Ted Selby and the Entertainers.

Mr Selby’s wife Millie, aged 88, said: “I have a lot of happy memories with Ted, he was a very happy go lucky man and I am very proud of what he did.”

Mr Stafford, who attended with his model wife Jessica Jane Clement, paid tribute to Mr Selby at the service.

He said: “I have been down to Bury a few times to the hospice and to his home, it is the least I could do.

“He was just a diamond, I met him and I loved his company even though we were generations apart.

“The time I remember most was when I gave him the cheque on the TV, it was extremely moving and we were both crying, it was beautiful.”

Adam Selby, Mr Selby’s nephew, added: “He was just so happy and through his 13 years of cancer you wouldn’t have known, the only time I ever saw him show any emotion was when he was at hospital and was told he had a growth, but he still stayed positive and said what can we do next.”

After growing up in the East End of London Mr Selby met his wife while she was on holiday and they tied the knot at Manchester New Synagogue in November 1948, living in London until 1963 when they moved to Hathaway Road in Sunnybank, which remains as the family home.

Mr Selby worked as a market trader and bus conductor, and the couple had two sons and three grandchildren.

He taught himself to play piano as a child and performed as an adult to subsidise his income, and after retiring he formed the group and donated the money they were paid to the hospice.

Jacqui Comber, the hospice’s chief executive, said: “That is why we felt we had to honour Ted, because he did so much for us here at the hospice. We know he would be looking down on us and smiling.

“Ted was a beautiful person and a true gentleman, his courage and kindness touched everyone he met and Ted will always be a part of Bury Hospice.”