The Theatre Royal recently invited patrons of the hit musical ‘Come From Away’ to ‘pay it forward’ in support of Emmanuel House.
The multi-award-winning musical, Come From Away, shares the incredible real-life story of the 7,000 air passengers who were grounded in Canada during the wake of 9/11, and the small Newfoundland community that invited these ‘come from aways’ into their lives.
Since watching this heart-warming production for the first time in December 2019, blogger Theatrical Lydia – Lydia Greatrix – has been inspired by the show’s ethos of community spirit, and by Pay It Forward 9/11, a charity set up to honour those who lost their lives by doing good deeds for strangers. Lydia is now following the UK tour, ‘paying it forward’ by sharing acts of kindness and generosity in each city she visits. Her campaign is in memory of her friend Laura Townsend, who saw the show over 150 times around the world, championing its message and spreading kindness wherever she went.
The Theatre Royal and Theatrical Lydia asked audience members who came to see the show from Tuesday 1 to Saturday 5 October to bring along an item of new underwear to donate to Emmanuel House.
Collection bins were situated in the Theatre Royal’s main entrance foyer at the beginning of every performance. For audience members who would prefer to make a cash donation, we also had collection buckets at the end of the show.
We’re thrilled to announce that the initiative raised over £1200 and we received 12 bin bags full of socks, pants and underwear.
The week before the show started, we were totally out of stock of boxer shorts. Thanks to everyone involved, the shelves of our clothes store are now full. Being able to give someone a new, clean pair of underwear after they have had a hot shower, a nutritious lunch and cup of tea can be quite life changing for someone who is experiencing homelessness, especially if it’s their first time sleeping rough.
The work towards this particular campaign has helped people through this journey. Alongside these ‘basic’ services, our support workers are on hand to offer specialist advice on housing, benefits, mental health.
This is exactly what the financial donations will go towards. Not to mention the 8000 people that attended and now know about our vital work in the city.
We’re totally blown away by the success of this campaign. Thank you Lydia for choosing to support us, and thank you Lucy and the whole team at the theatre for enabling it to happen.
If you’d like to set up a donation drive within your organisation, please don’t hesitate to get in touch: donations@emmanuelhouse.org.uk.
