KEIGHLEY personality Charlie Bhowmick MBE, has raised more than £2,000 for charity with his colourful autobiography.

Yorkshire Cancer Research has benefited from Charlie giving away copies of From Calcutta To Keighley in return for donations.

Charlie decided to support Yorkshire Cancer Research following his experience with bowel cancer. While recovering from surgery, he began documenting his life story. 

The 81-year-old arrived in Keighley from the Indian city of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) as a fresh-faced teenager in 1954. He had made the journey to study mechanical engineering at Keighley College.

Charlie went on to serve an apprenticeship with George Hattersley & Sons before becoming the first Asian to work in local government where he was a planning officer at Keighley Town Hall.

He became known for his community and charity work, and in 2005 was awarded an MBE for his services to race and inter-faith relations.

Charlie has now given away every copy of his autobiography, titled From Calcutta to Keighley, but the book is available to borrow from Keighley Library.

Charlie said: “Having been a long-standing cancer patient and undergoing major surgery for bowel cancer, I felt glad to be alive. I wanted to see what I could do for people with the same illness as me.

“I am humbled and very grateful to people for their support and understanding. Everybody has someone in their family who has cancer. I hope the money raised will contribute to research that will help save future generations.”

Val Broughton, treasurer of Yorkshire Cancer Research’s Keighley Committee, said: “Charlie is so well known and respected in Keighley. It must have been incredibly daunting to come over here as a young man, but he quickly became an integral part of the community and he’s led such an interesting life.

“It’s a fantastic achievement to write a book and we are thrilled for him and for Yorkshire Cancer Research that he managed to raise so much. We’d like to express our thanks to him for choosing our charity and to everybody who gave donations.”

Yorkshire Cancer Research was founded in 1925 and is the largest independent regional cancer charity in England.

The charity funds work across the region to help prevent cancer and improve the likelihood of survival.

Current statistics show that 594 people are diagnosed with cancer in Yorkshire every week, and the charity’s mission is to help 2,000 more people a year survive.

Visit ycr.org.uk for further information about how the charity funds prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and clinical trials.