Aylesbury Waterside Theatre commits to supporting Stoke Mandeville spinal research in their 10th anniversary year
Hot off the heels of raising over £16,000 from post-show collections throughout the 2022 pantomime run of Aladdin for Florence Nightingale Hospice and Emmett’s Genies, Aylesbury Waterside Theatre have announced their first charity partnership of 2023. The local regional theatre will be making a commitment to Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research (SMSR), as they mark their 10th Anniversary year.
The venue’s support of the charity will aptly start on the opening night of Roddy Doyle’s best-selling novel, The Commitments on Mon 30 Jan, with post-show collections running throughout the week.
The Waterside has previously supported SMSR initiatives including their Wheels at Work programme and Theatre Director Sophie Denney is excited about continuing to raise awareness and funds for the charity in their milestone year:
‘As a community venue I know I echo the sentiments of the entire theatre team when I say we are always keen and privileged to be in a position where we can raise awareness of local charities, helping to secure vital funds and educate about their good work. The collections this month are a starting point, we are also looking at extending our offering to SMSR with a longevity idea that will run over the course of the year and we look forward to sharing this soon.’
Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research (SMSR) is an independent, national charity seeking to promote quality of life in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) through research. Their vision is to enable people with spinal cord injury to have life after paralysis without the setbacks of debilitating health complications.
“We’re delighted to be chosen as Aylesbury Waterside Theatre’s first charity of 2023 to mark our milestone 10th Anniversary year,” commented Kate Favell, SMSR Corporate & Community Fundraiser.
“It’s very exciting to be linking up with the theatre once again for The Commitments show. We hope theatre-goers will get behind our special year, and our ongoing commitment to funding vital research towards improving the lives of spinal cord injury patients and their often-debilitating health complications.“