Stephen Mangan Supports Little Angel Theatre's RESTORATION SOS Capital Campaign

Since 1961 Little Angel Theatre, in the heart of Islington, has been entertaining children and adults with our magical puppet theatre. In November 2013 we launched our RESTORATION SOS CAPITAL CAMPAIGN to raise funds for urgent improvements to our building, to take place this summer.

So far we have raised over £26,000 towards the campaign - with over £10,000 pledged by members of the public. However with our target of £60,000 to reach by the end of June, we still have some way to go to make sure that we can undertake the building improvement work this July and August.

Now Actor Stephen Mangan (Green Wing, Episodes) is lending his help to raise the profile of our last big push of the campaign. A regular visitor to the theatre with his two young boys, Stephen is doing all he can to help us reach our fundraising goal. See the video featuring Stephen here: http://www.littleangeltheatre.com/support-us/restoration-sos-2/.

Stephen says: "I love the Little Angel Theatre. My kids are too young to go and see West End plays but they can come here and watch some of the best puppetry in the world. I enjoy the shows as much as them! The building itself is the perfect size. You see it in my kids - as soon as you walk in here you feel excited, something is going to happen, you are going to see something out of the ordinary.

"We are not trying to raise a huge amount in the grand scheme of things... It's £60,000 to fix the roof, replace the boiler, some really essential stuff. It is so important that places like this exist and are allowed to do the work they want to do, as well as they can do it. If Little Angel Theatre didn't exist it would leave a huge hole. There are dozens of multiplex cinemas, every house has 2-3 TVs in it, but places like this are really rare and need to be looked after. My children can come here and have an experience they can't get anywhere else."

ABOUT THE RESTORATION SOS CAPITAL CAMPAIGN:

There are three key areas where we need to do work, including:

1) Structural and safety improvements - we need to fix our leaky roof, replace the outdated and tatty signage, and restore the degraded brickwork.

2) Reduce our environmental impact - we want to replace our ancient boiler and insufficient heating system, and add insulation to the ceiling and around ill-fitting doors.

3) Improve access and audience experience - improvements include installing a visual fire alarm and adding an induction hearing loop in the auditorium.

In the long-term, making these improvements to the building will reduce the amount we have to spend on regular maintenance and utilities, allow us to put more money into our core artistic and education activities.

HOW TO DONATE: We are asking the public to help us reach our fundraising target by making a donation to our campaign. Donations can be made online at www.littleangeltheatre.com, via the box office (020 7226 1787), or by dropping into the theatre in person.