Youth theatre pitches in to support foodbank project
4th August 2020
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Sutton Coldfield Musical Youth Theatre has launched an appeal to help Sutton Coldfield Town Hall’s food bank donation point which has been running at the venue since the start of lockdown.

The town hall in King Edward’s Square switched from hosting entertainment to helping those who have been struggling to put food on the table once shows were closed in March.

The entrance hall of the heritage building is being used to collect donations from locals on a Monday and Friday.

New features of the project include free coffee or tea for donors, a ‘support local businesses’ idea and charity stalls on a Friday.

While unable to rehearse, SCMYT decided to help the town hall in its efforts with a campaign to raise as much money as possible for the food bank.

The town hall has been a major support to the award-winning youth theatre since it started almost two years ago and it is the venue for both SCMYT’s performances and rehearsals.

Sarah Clarke, SCMYT chairman, said:  “What the town hall has done to help people in Sutton Coldfield through the current pandemic is fantastic and demonstrates how much it truly cares about the local community.

“The town hall and its patrons have always been so supportive of our youth theatre and we cannot thank them all enough.

“Knowing what the town hall was doing during lockdown, and following a suggestion from one of our youth theatre parents, we decided to launch a fundraising campaign to give something back to the community by giving the food banks a boost.”

The youth theatre appeal has already raised more than £100 but plans to shop for the food bank once it has reached £300.

Sarah added: “We know that the last few months have been very hard for so many people and some will struggle for months to come, but we hope that by raising as much money as possible for the food banks , the town hall will be able to buy more supplies and help even more people.”

Town Hall Managing Director Julie Rennison added “This gesture is typical of this group, who create such magnificent work on stage. To put their energy into helping others at a time they are not performing is a really positive thing to do. We’d ask anyone who can help to donate to the page.”

Anyone who would like to donate to SCMYT’s appeal can do so here.

Those who would like to donate long-life food or toiletries in person can do so on a Monday and Friday, 10am to 2pm.

Donations are collected by two centres in Erdington and two in Sutton Coldfield. Fresh produce, including allotment produce, is used by a further foodbank canteen in Four Oaks.

A short film about the project can be found on the Town Hall’s Facebook page -www.facebook.com/suttontownhall

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Ian Henery

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