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 announced their first charity partnership of 2023 by making a commitment to Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research (SMSR), as we mark our 10th anniversary year.

The venue’s support aptly started 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. Thank you to everyone who donated to our fundraising buckets, you helped to raise £231.88!

The Waterside has previously supported our initiatives including Wheels at Work and Theatre Director Sophie Denney is excited about continuing to raise awareness and funds for SMSR in our 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 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."

"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."

The Theatre's next fundraiser for SMSR will take place on Sunday 26th February, at the sing-a-long Encanto musical screening. 

ENDS