CELEBRITIES including Lenny Henry and Frankie Valli have lent their support to a Kingswinford glass artist's charity project.

Allister Malcolm, the resident glass artist at Broadfield House Glass Museum, appealed for stars to submit a signed doodle for glassmakers to use as the inspiration for an accompanying piece of art.

In addition to receiving drawings from the Dudley comedian and the Four Seasons star, he's also had scribbles from Spandau Ballet's Tony Hadley, Dave Hill from Slade and chef Raymond Blanc.

The celebrities artwork will be combined with the glassmakers' pieces and sold at Fieldings Auctioneers, Stourbridge, to raise funds for the British Glass Foundation, to help preserve the region's glass heritage.

Mr Malcolm, aged 38, has been at the Kingswinford museum for six years and was inspired by a story he heard about artist Damien Hirst giving a doodle to a taxi driver in London, which was then sold at auction for £12,000.

He said: “I thought if it could be that simple, maybe a lot of local celebrities might want to support the preservation of our glass heritage in the Midlands.

"It's been quite successful so far but we are still gathering doodles. A lot of artists have stepped forward and volunteered to work on the project so once we have got all the doodles in, we will divide them up.

"I'm hoping we can get started in the next couple of months, I know the artists are raring to go."