Lancashire theatregoers dig deep for charities

The enthusiasm of audiences of almost 1,000 attending Much Ado about Nothing and HMS Pinafore snapped up the tickets from the young Meet and Greet Team during the intervals, with the result that £1,250 was raised in just 30 minutes for four charities.

Attractive prizes included vouchers from Pemberton’s Farm shop and Stringers, a gift box from Lytham Gin,a spectacular bouquet from Bond and Bloom, together with a huge box of Lancashire vegetables from Strongs Fruit and Veg shop.

Julian Wilde, theatre organiser at the Hall, was delighted with generosity of the audiences. He said: “The proceeds will be split between four charities which have each struggled severely in differing ways during the pandemic - the Blackpool Victoria NHS Trust, the St. Luke’s Leprosy Hospital, the visiting theatre company Illyria and the Lytham Hall Restoration Appeal.

“Our young Meet and Greet Team did a wonderful job selling the tickets and handing out the prizes.”

Charlotte Mellors,17, who has helped with all six productions at the hall this summer whilst visiting relatives during the school summer holiday from her home in Saudi Arabia felt that enormous size of Bertrand and the attraction of two tickets for any of the WonderHall concerts caused great excitement.

She said: “The Patrons of the outdoor season and the Wonderhall organisers Cuffe and Taylor provided a superb range of prizes and it’s brilliant that we could raise so much money for charities in such a short time. I have really enjoyed being part of the Meet and Greet Team – it’s been hectic at times , but great fun.”

A full house at HMS Pinafore brought the 11th year of open air theatre at Lytham Hall to a successful close. The 50th play in the series will open the programme in June 2022, when productions are likely to include Jane Eyre, Shakepeare’s As You Like It, JM Barry’s Peter Pan and Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.