Giving others a hand |
| In spite of the fact that Peter has no other income other than the entertainment contracts he negotiates himself - he has long since dispensed with a manager - and he has always had a family to support in England, he has never been selfish with his time. |
| As numerous schools and welfare organisations, Rotary, Round Table and Lions Clubs International in South Africa and Australia, the Kiwanis and the Heart Foundation in America and e1sewhere will testify, he will always lend a hand when there is fund raising to be done for the underprivileged. |
| During the Rhodesian War he was flown into many bush camps to entertain the troops, has sung at many old aged homes and has even drunk milk for the cause! Proceeds of his opening night at the EDWARD for many years went to "The Daily News Milk Fund". He would never confirm or deny if there was anything else lacing the innocent looking white liquid! |
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Helping at a childrens party at RAF Ruislip |
| Whether it is speaking at a lunch or dinner or organising a fundraising concert, he gives of his best. |
| Indeed, his first one-man stage show was in Kenya on June 5, 1960, to help send a hero to the UK for rehabilitation treatment, Ian Pritchard. |
He was billed as The Piano Playboy and he gave a two-hour show at the National Theatre, Nairobi, to raise money for the Pritchard fund. A cutting from the Sunday Post of Nairobi of the same day tells the story: |
| "The campaign to raise funds to fly emergency hero Ian Pritchard to Stoke Mandeville hospital for treatment has captured the public imagination. Already approximately £ 1,000 has been raised but a further £2,0oo is required to fly Pritchard, now lying paralysed in a Nairobi hospital after a water skiing accident, to England to pay for a long and expensive course of treatment." |
| When Peter returned the following year columnist John de Villiers wrote on August 20, 1961: "Old friends who just missed each other in Nairobi last week are Ian Pritchard, the ex-Mau Mau pseudo-gangster who was crippled from the neck down in a water-skiing accident, and entertainer extraordinary Peter Maxwell, who is appearing at the New Stanley Grill Room." |
| Just a few of the South African welfare organisations he has helped include the Rand Daily Mail Christmas Fund, the Cape Cripple Care Association, various Rag committees and Suicides Anonymous. |
| Having been in the Services, he entertains at many ex-servicemen's dinners and is proud to have been made an honorary member of the Durban Regiment and of the Natal Mounted Rifles. He is also an honorary member of the Rhodesian Army Association, life member of the Royal Air Force Association and Rhodesia Worldwide. |
| A video is now available of the last Rhodesian TV "Telethon for the Troopies" starring Peter Maxwell!. Also on the video is footage of his Australian World Record 1983 "Playing an electronic piano in a Hot Air Balloon". |
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In the Sgt's Mess - Rhodesian Air Force, Thornhill in August, 1976 |