Mother Goose raises £3,000

A WOKINGHAM post-Christmas panto raised £3,000 for children and their families experiencing bereavement.

Corpus Christi Parish Panto entertains the borough each January to support charities in the borough.

This year the group chose Lower Earley-based organisation, Daisy’s Dream.

Martin Robins, played this year’s Dame, Mother Goose.

“I’m delighted to report that the shows went extremely well, to critical acclaim, in fact,” he said

“We had record audiences, with nearly

600 people watching across the three shows, and we raised an amazing £3,000 for our chosen charity, Daisy’s Dream.”

The family friendly show had a cast of 30, half of whom were children, with the pantomime written by the group members.

Wokingham.Today previously described Mr Robins as director of this successful fundraiser.

“We were led this year by Dee HumphreyEvans,” he said.

“I directed last year’s show, but we rotate the role each year, as we all really would rather be on stage.

“We’re just about to start planning next year’s show, which will be a 20th anniversary special.”

Daisy’s Dream meets the needs of children who have been bereaved, or where there has been a serious illness diagnosis in the family.

Tricia Cattell, therapeutic practitioner at the charity said: “We’re thrilled to receive this gift, and we’d like to say a massive thank you to Corpus Christi Parish Panto.

“Their donation makes such a huge difference to our work.”

Daisy’s Dream provides four large groups each year for bereaved young people to have fun, and to get to know other children their own age who know what it feels like to face a death in the family.

“It’s a huge thing in a young person’s life to lose a parent, or a sibling,” continued Ms Cattell.

“We moved at Christmas from Twyford where our previous location was less flexible, to Lower Earley where we now have an accessible ground floor for regular young people’s meetings and activities to take place, with office space above.

“The financial support we receive from individuals, groups and businesses, like the Corpus Christi pantomime, is priceless.

“Without them, we wouldn’t be here, and we couldn’t provide our services to children and their families.

“We’re so grateful.”

■ For information, visit: www.corpuschristiwokingham.orgor follow the group on Facebook, and for more about the charity, log on to: www.daisysdream.org.uk