*UPDATE 5th May 2014* Brian and the family have been celebrating 50 years of Play School! On Saturday Brian attended a special reunion at Riverside Studios, with clips from the programme and of course the famous toys were there too, along with many of the presenters. A big thank you to those who have made donations to mark the big occasion!

http://www.itv.com/news/2014-05-03/play-school-throws-party-for-reunion-at-50/

In April, Brian was invited to the Parkinson's UK reception at Number 10, Downing St, hosted by Samantha Cameron. It was a great chance to draw attention to the great work of Parkinson's UK, and a fun day out for Brian. We ended up going for a burger in Joe Allen's afterwards, where he hadn't stepped foot for years.

*LATEST NEWS - THANK YOU!* After the incredible response from Brian's fans and their generosity with £2500 raised in 24 hours on his birthday, we have decided to set a target of £10,000 to raise for Parkinson's UK. We are almost a third of the way there!. Please keep donating and spreading the word for this great cause marking Brian's 80th in a way close to his heart. Do continue to leave your personal messages when you donate for Brian to read, he is so grateful to hear from his fans and is touched that he has meant so much to so many.

Thanks for following Brian's celebration on Twitter on his birthday weekend at #BrianCant80 and through my tweets @petecant. We will be posting more photos to the gallery here.

Love Peter, Brian, Cherry, Christabel (Tink) and Rose x

* * * * * * * * * * 

My father and kids TV legend, Brian Cant turned 80 on Friday (12th July).

Three years ago he was honoured with a BAFTA for his outstanding contribution to children's television. On Thursday afternoon I tweeted: "My father and kids TV legend, Brian Cant, turns 80 tomorrow! If this means something to u please RT and send ur wishes #BrianCant80"  I was overwhelmed by the huge response - thousands upon thousands of retweets and messages flooded in, and I felt I had to do something in response. So many people have sent birthday greetings, memories and tweets of gratitude from all over the UK expressing how Brian means so much to them. I am so grateful. Brian and the whole family have been extremely touched by your words which we have shared with him. It's clear that he holds a very special place in the heart of the nation.

Brian has been a wonderful father to me and my siblings. When we were young we learnt that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. We have watched him live with this cruel disease, while continuing to work and to support us along side our mother Cherry, with dignity and fortitude, for as long as possible. 

I would like to take this opportunity to respond to all your support for my Dad, your good-will and loving thoughts, by asking that together we do something wonderful for him and all those who suffer from Parkinson's Disease, and all those who will in the future, by donating to Parkinson's UK.

Can you imagine? If everyone who tweeted their gratitude and birthday wishes to Brian donated between £2 to £5 to Parkinson's UK we could raise thousands of pounds for this amazing charity and help them on the way to finding a cure for Parkinson's, while continuing to improve the lives of patients and relatives.

This would be the best present of all for Brian! When he was able he did so much for so many different charities. He will love to know that he can still make a difference. Please help me make his day while helping in the fight for all Parkinson's patients. Let's raise a whopper for Parkinson's UK. 

Don't worry, donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Thank you. We really appreciate it. 

For more info on Parkinson's UK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson's_UK