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But while Malcolm is facing the toughest journey of his life, one thing he knows is that he can count on the support of his friends.

Malcolm, better known to many as ‘Beastie’ a character he played in the British television sitcom ‘No Problem’ in the 1980s, is battling with a deadly illness. 

And this is where the problem really begins.  Although there are 750,000 people registered as donors in Britain, very few are of African, African Caribbean or Mixed Race origin. 

According to the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) this makes Malcolm's chance and others like him nothing short of a lottery. 

With his African Caribbean heritage, his chance of finding a suitable donor is 1 in 100,000.

It's this frightening statistic which continues to drive campaigners to increase the number of potential donors from within the Black community. 

And to boost Malcolm’s chance, dozens of his showbiz friends got together to put on an evening of celebration to raise much needed funds and to drive the message home.

Malcolm Fredrick

Sadly, for him however, his situation has just taken a turn for the worse.  After several years in remission, his latest visit to the specialists delivered a tragic message.

"I have bumps and growths …. You can’t have a transplant once you have it, you can only have a transplant in remission – if somebody comes now, they can't give it [bone marrow] to me,"  said Malcolm.

Malcolm is just one of many black and other minority ethnic people desperate to find a donor. 

What many people may not know, says the ACLT is that a person's bone marrow type is an inherited characteristic and, the chance of finding a matching donor for a patient is far greater if the donor is from the same racial/ethnic background.