Hi,

We would like to bring you all up to date on how next year’s tribute tour is coming together. ‘ A Night to Remember - The Joe Longthorne Songbook’ celebration concert featuring audio visual displays and unseen footage of Joe onstage, starring Darren Day, Tracey Jordan Andy Mudd with the Joe Longthorne Band and Chris Berry has been warmly welcomed around the country at theatres with many venues already on sale and more on sale very soon.

It’s an appropriate time to mention that all the existing members of Joe’s stage and admin team are to carry on in their roles and honour his memory and legacy. MD Andy Mudd together with band members Tom Read,Andy Morley and Alan Wormald and sound engineer John Turner will be back together on next year’s tour Geraldine Vine continues with The Friendship Club and Christine Whitnall in Website/Social Media/ Admin.

We wish to state that this official Facebook page, originally established in 2009, works in association with three excellent Facebook Group pages as follows :-

‘Sensational Joe Longthorne MBE’ managed by Donna Toms
‘People Who Love Joe Longthorne’ managed by Chrissie Moran
‘Joe Longthorne’ managed by Dave Taylor

These three group pages were all set up a number of years ago and have always been totally supportive of Joe.

It needs to be said here and now that there are a number of Facebook pages which have sprung up since Joe passed away. These , frankly , have not been set up in the best interests of celebrating Joe’s incredible life and career . Indeed, it is sad to say that these pages have been found to be a breeding ground for trolling, hatred and bullying of bona fide fans of Joe and even trashing Joe himself.. The level of the inappropriate behaviour of these pages has reached the point now where we find it necessary to make these comments. Therefore ,we wish to assure and confirm that only posts on this page and the three pages mentioned are authorised and official.

We can announce that Jamie has already commissioned the bronze bust of Joe, in time for unveiling on his birthday next year, 31st May 2020. The sculptor ,who’s name we will be revealing at the weekend , is highly acclaimed and has worked on many famous figures and artwork. The bronze bust will be touring around the country and there will be no requests or appeals in respect of this memorial to Joe.

Finally, we wish to make this statement about a DVD of Joe’s funeral which has been recently released by Heavenly Services Funeral Directors of Hull. It is important to lay out the background to the making of the DVD here and now so it is crystal clear how it came to be.

Mr Jamie Moran, Joe’s husband, gave his permission for the BBC, ITV and SKY to film for public news broadcast only. Heavenly Services asked to video some of the procession which Jamie felt he was unable to stop, bearing in mind the public interest with film and press crews there in great numbers, together with public mourners along the processions and outside the church. At no time has he ever sanction this film from Heavenly Services being made into a DVD and put on general sale to the public.

After much delay and confusion it was originally stated by Simon, MD at Heavenly Services that the making and release of this DVD was requested and authorised by Mrs Ann White nee Longthorne, Joe’s sister, and that the proceeds so far of £2700 had been collected by Mrs White but Simon has now said that the £2700 is in fact still at Heavenly Services.