Employees get hands dirty in bid to maintain Kings Theatre

A group of nine employees from Langstone Technology Park spent their time painting toilets and the stage while volunteering at the Albert Road theatre after their pantomime Cinderella, which starred The Only Way is Essex’s ‘Arg’ and Anita Harris.

Ian Pratt, vice-chairman of the Kings Theatre Trust, co-ordinated the working party and said: ‘The Kings Theatre relies heavily on the generous support given by volunteers to maintaining the theatre.

‘Tens of thousands of pounds in labour costs have been saved by volunteers being prepared to get down and dirty in the cleaning and painting around the theatre and having businesses get their staff involved too is greatly appreciated.

‘The money saved means we can plough that much-needed finance back into the overall restoration of the Kings.’

Graeme Archie, of SSE’s IT portfolio office in Havant, said: ‘It was a good opportunity to help out at the local theatre which I drive past every day. It’s a very old building and I remember when it looked set to be demolished, so it’s great to see it thriving now, although it still depends on support from the community. I found the whole experience very enjoyable and it was interesting to see behind the scenes.’

Sandra Smith, PR and corporate manager at the Kings Theatre, said: ‘We are grateful for the work that SSE did. Their staff always work with pleasure and enthusiasm and do an excellent job. We were delighted to welcome them to the theatre.’

SSE’s volunteering programme enables employees to take a day off work to support community initiatives that are important to them.

Over the past five years, employees throughout SSE have supported more than 2,600 community projects and contributed nearly 30,000 days of volunteering support.

To volunteer at the Kings Theatre contact Carrole Coles via email at [email protected].