Syngenta team up with LBT to hand kids a festive treat F
OUR hundred school children were treated to a free pantomime from a partnership between the Lawrence Batley Theatre’s Christmas Angels appeal and Huddersfield firm Syngenta.
The children, who were from North Huddersfield Trust School, Ashbrow School and Netherhall Learning Campus, were offered free tickets to Jack and The Beanstalk by Syngenta, who made a generous donation to the theatre’s Christmas Angels appeal.
Through its Employees Community Gift Scheme, the firm even paid transport costs to get children to the theatre.
The Christmas Angels appeal invites people to donate to a fund which then enables children and their carers to experience a unique theatre visit.
They receive tickets to the pantomime, interval ice-creams and a special meet and greet. The appeal is now in its second year and will be returning for Aladdin at the LBT in 2018.
Carl Sykes, the community relations manager for Syngenta, said: “We were looking for a way to give children an experience of the arts, and with the LBT we were able to work together to offer a fun and enjoyable theatre experience.
“This season’s pantomime is Jack and the Beanstalk where Jack grows a plant from a bean, so how fitting is it that Syngenta is a plant science company and through our Good Growth Plan we are working towards creating a sustainable future in agriculture.”
Victoria Firth, director of the LBT, said: “It was wonderful to see local students enjoying Jack and The Beanstalk today thanks to Syngenta and our Christmas Angels appeal.
“The appeal allows families and children to experience the magic of theatre at Christmas who would otherwise be unable to do so.”
Creating the Christmas Angels fund means even small donations make a difference and now more than ever is an optimum time to donate, with every pound donated to the LBT being match-funded by the Arts Council of England – doubling the donations.
To make a donation or for more information about the LBT’s Christmas Angels appeal contact Christmas Angels Co-ordinator Nick Travis at nick@thelbt.org or 01484 484438.
Alternatively, donations can be made via the website www.thelbt.org/how-makedonation
Jack and The Beanstalk will be on at the LBT until January 6. THE Rex cinema in Elland is showing the latest Hollywood blockbuster ... and also one from the past which is a real Christmas treat.
The highly praised latest film in the Star Wars series, The Last Jedi, is now on at the cinema for a fortnight’s run with daily screenings at 7.45 with matinees during the holidays.
Then on Christmas Eve there will be a screening of It’s A Wonderful Life at 11am, the all-time favourite Christmas film from 1946 starring James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore which has become a traditional annual treat at the Rex.
Frank Capra’s classic tells the tale of a smalltown philanthropist whose loan company has gone bust and who is saved from suicide by an elderly angel played by Henry Travers.
The cinema will be providing tea and mince pies to go along with the film.