Appeal for funds at PFT
Pitlochry Festival Theatre is launching an appeal to raise funds so online performances can continue on its newly-launched digital channels.
‘Support our Artists’started on Giving Tuesday (December 1) with the theatre looking at a £5000 target.
The donations will go towards employing freelance theatre workers who have been hit hard by COVID-19 - actors, writers, musicians and other creative artists - who will see their work commissioned and broadcast to thousands of people.
Since the theatre closed its doors, members have been keeping company with communities and making work for audiences to enjoy every day, digitally, online, on the radio and on the phone.
The theatre’s online entertainment series, #PFTLightHopeJoy, has reached over 2.5 million people online using the wide-ranging skills of the summer ensemble actors, as well as other creative artists, who otherwise may have had their livelihoods halted.
It is hoped the funding can continue the delivery of this entertainment every day for audiences, nationally and internationally, until doors reopen.
Jesse Fox, one of the actors from the summer ensemble, has frequently performed online through the theatre’s digital channels for #PFTLightHopeJoy.
She said:“I feel extremely lucky to have been part of #PFTLightHopeJoy for Pitlochry Festival Theatre over many months.
“On a personal note it has been an absolute life-saver having a creative focus and a creative community to be interacting with in these very strange and challenging times for so many people.
“I have loved being able, albeit in an unusual way, to carry on flexing those creative muscles, having discussions with Elizabeth and her brilliant team, with our audiences and to generate content for our audiences to enjoy.”
The theatre also reached an international audience of around three million listeners for Adventures with the Painted People - their radio reimagining of the production due for their stage in the 2020 Summer Season - a co-production with Naked productions for BBC for Radio 3, in
June.
It went on to commission and produce 25 new dramatic pieces from UK writers, through the alreadylaunched and brought forward artistic project‘Shades of Tay – A Love Letter to Scotland’.
To donate go to the Support Our Artists through the Pitlochry Festival Theatre Just Giving page at www. justgiving.com/campaign/ PFTSupportourArtists
A Perthshire grandmother who celebrated her 66th birthday with a swim in the very cold waters of Loch Tay said the experience was “glorious”.
Traditional storyteller and artist Claire Hewitt from Aberfeldy was limited for what she could do to mark her special day last Monday.
Given the raft of COVID-19 restrictions, any thoughts of meeting friends inside, a meal out or a trip to the movies was not going to work.
But when a pal called up to suggest going for a December 1 swim in nearby Loch Tay, Claire was more than happy to get her wetsuit on.
She went for a chilly dip in Scotland’s longest inshore loch with husband Robin and her water-loving friend.
Claire packed her birthday cake and thermos flasks of coffee and enjoyed the cold water swimming experience, floating about in the shallows near Kenmore beach, admiring the snowy white tops of the surrounding hills.
Claire said reaching 66 was a big moment for her and she felt disappointed when the law changed and she had to wait an extra six years to claim her pension.
“At the time I was really down, wondering ‘will I still be here when I am finally allowed to claim?’
“Well I am here and I thank my lucky stars I can go for a magical swim as my way of celebrating,” she told the PA.
“I can’t recommend it enough, you can gaze at the sky, the hills, you come out feeling really alive.”
She began ‘wild’ swimming in Loch Tay about a year ago when her nineyear-old granddaughter shared how keen she was on cold dips in the great outdoors.
Claire agreed to join her: “I thought ‘OK then, I’ll just have to brave it’.
“It was the best decision ever. Being her companion on adventures in the river and loch near where I live was a very playful, joyful introduction to wild swimming.
“We both got wetsuits, boots, gloves and hats and suddenly we were so free to go exploring.
“It is quite shallow and sandy at the Kenmore end of the loch, it was a confidence builder for both me and my granddaughter.
“I got safety advice and lots of support from those in the area who have been cold water wild swimming for a long time.
“I’m just a novice but I have found it the most wonderful thing to gradually become acclimatised too.
“I broke my foot last year and was advised that swimming would help rehabilitate it. I have a bad reaction to chlorine so I looked into alternatives to indoor swimming pools.
“I learnt to swim in the Irish Sea as a child on caravan holidays to Anglesey. I have a deep love of the water.
“It has been a total joy which nothing compares to, easing gently into the dark, cold water of Loch Tay.
“My regular swims in the loch kept me relaxed and happy when we were all prevented from doing so many things.
“You never wild swim alone and so it is a wonderful communal experience.
“I hope to get used to going in without a wetsuit in the spring.”
Claire recommended getting in touch with Colleen Blair who is part of a development team with Scottish Swimming with responsibility for planning, monitoring and evaluating a co-ordinated approach to swimming development. Colleen is the strategic lead for Open Water swimming and can be contacted for advice at blair@ scottishswimming.com