Cambridge Arts Theatre Audiences Raise £17,000 for Local Charities

Audiences for Cambridge Arts Theatre's traditional festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, have raised a record-breaking £17,400 for a number of local charitable causes through bucket collections taken after every performance in the show's 5-week run across December and January.

The charities that benefitted from audience generosity were: Addenbrooke's C2 Ward (children's oncology), Cambridge Joint Playschemes, Tom's Trust, Alzheimer's Society, Headway Cambridgeshire, and the Theatre's own Panto Wheels scheme, which enables students from disadvantaged areas and those with special educational needs to experience a trip to the pantomime.

Al Morley, Commercial and Operations Director at the Theatre, said: "We are delighted by the generosity of our pantomime audiences over the festive season. The Arts Theatre strives to support the Cambridge community and we know that the charities selected will benefit enormously from the kindness of our patrons; on behalf of all the theatre staff and pantomime cast and company, we extend a huge thank you to all who donated."

This year, money raised by the Theatre's in-house charity Panto Wheels enabled over 1,740 school children to come and see Jack and the Beanstalk, subsidising both travel expenditure and ticket cost. Students from Castle School, who have attended the pantomime for six years consecutively thanks to Panto Wheels, were among those who attended. Liz West, Assistant Head Teacher, called the pantomime 'fabulous', stating parents were 'delighted' that their children had participated in and engaged with the pantomime. Pupils were also treated to a post-show visit from Dame Trott (Matt Crosby) and Simon Trott (Robert Rees); the stars came out in full costume to sign autographs and have photographs taken with audience members.

Over the pantomime season, 48 schools came to see the pantomime from Cambridgeshire and the surrounding region.

Jack and the Beanstalk was produced by Cambridge Arts Theatre and sponsored by Laragh Homes. Cambridge News was this year's media partner.