A FUNDRAISING drive launched by a courageous young York man before he died of cancer has raised almost £50,000.

Now the Guy Francis Bone Cancer Research Fund has received another boost after an event at a York caf bar - involving a charity casino, mime artists, magicians and musicians - raised £681.

Guy, of Wheldrake, died more than two years ago, aged 23, after a six-year battle for life.

His struggle began the day before his 18th birthday when he was diagnosed with a form of bone cancer, osteogenic sarcoma, in his leg.

His thigh and knee bones were replaced, and he underwent months of chemotherapy under Dr Ian Lewis - the oncologist in the teenage unit at St James's University Hospital, Leeds - before he went into remission and lived a life packed with cancer care fundraising. He established the fund in the hope of raising half a million pounds to pay for a pioneering research fellowship at the hospital to investigate the cancer, which mainly affects teenage boys.

Guy was a close friend of a number of staff at Kennedy's caf bar, in Little Stonegate, so it was decided to help the fund by raising as much as possible through a party evening, with Guy's father Mike coming along to set the roulette table rolling.

Bar spokesman Matt Aconley said: "The night was a ball. We entertained over 400 guests, who were treated to bubbly and free drinks on arrival and canapes throughout the night. They were dazzled with live entertainment throughout.

"To mark the occasion, there was a special guest appearance by York mime artist Michael Mime, clad in full Kennedy's attire at the front door and performing the excellent windswept inverted umbrella mime that he performs so well in Stonegate, while Baldinio entertained with magic and card tricks inside."

He said there was different entertainment on each level, with singing and acoustic duo Little Chris and Dave Keegan performing on the first floor, a charity casino in the VIP lounge, and The Mothers Live band in the basement bar.

Matt said he was so delighted by the response that Kennedy's planned to launch its first all-ticket New Year's Eve party extravaganza, with another casino, live music, a DJ and magic, again to raise money for the fund.

"Hopefully, it won't be too much longer before we can finally understand why 90 per cent of new cases of this cancer are found in teenagers, why over two-thirds of those cases are in boys, and why the number of new cases has doubled in the last five years," he said.

Updated: 12:21 Friday, October 15, 2004