‘Testament to the spirit of the people of Plymouth and the South West’
Following a busy, magical festive season at Theatre Royal Plymouth, the charity is today celebrating having raised £42,689.94 with its Festive Appeal 2025.
It’s an astonishing increase of more than 78% from last year’s total of £23,900. It also raised a further £12,240 from the Big Give Christmas Challenge and £1,365 from a pantomime-inspired Crowdfunder.
The extensive annual fundraising campaign was launched on 01 November alongside such shows as The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Fawlty Towers.
It continued throughout Dick Whittington alongside other shows, including Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas and The Star Who Danced. All proceeds raised will support young people from the local community in the year to come.
‘We are incredibly grateful to our audiences and members who have so generously supported this year’s appeal,’ says Lucy Howe, Theatre Royal Plymouth’s Director of Partnerships & Philanthropy.
‘I think the huge uplift we’ve seen this year is testament to the spirit of the people of Plymouth and the South West who are committed to making meaningful change for our shared community. Thank you to everyone who supported us.’
Money from the Big Give is going towards specific projects, including the launch of TRP’s brand new community initiative, Young Company – Our Space.
The new youth theatre group, which is also generously supported by the Maristow Charity, will be an extension of TRP’s current Our Space and Young Company programmes that support children facing disadvantages and extreme challenges.
Image: Chris Baker (provided by TRP)
Exploring creativity and developing new skills
The programme will provide weekly term-time sessions for 15 participants with an aim to increase to 40 children during school holidays.
It’s goal is to allow them to explore creativity, develop new skills, build relationships and express themselves through drama.
The wider amount will support projects, including: Young Company Create, which hosts weekly theatre sessions for children and young people with disabilities. It aims to allow them to build confidence within a close and safe community.
The funding will also assist Playhouse: a national scheme that connects young people with scriptwriters and theatre makers and gives them the chance to perform on their local theatre’s stages.
Last year, as part of Playhouse, seven primary schools from Devon and Cornwall took over TRP’s Drum stage for an unforgettable week of performances, supported by the Festive Appeal alongside sponsorship from Princess Yachts.
Generous theatre goers donated via bucket collections and contactless payments at the theatre, made voluntary donations online, through the box office and added donations when purchasing tickets.
