Cast of Peter Pan help Naomi House children's hospice raise £11,000

Peter Pan Cheq Presentation

The cast of the pantomime, Peter Pan, which has just finished its run at The Anvil, Basingstoke, have helped Naomi House children’s hospice raise close to £11,000.

The cast, which includes Waterloo Road star Ben-Ryan Davies, Emmerdale actor Gary Turner and Pete Hillier from CBeebies have been assisting volunteers from the hospice with collections after each performance of the pantomime. Anvil Arts also welcomed volunteers to collect donations after performances of Beauty and the Beast at The Haymarket.

In total, the collections have raised £10,800 for the charity which cares for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions across Hampshire.

The cast paid a visit to Naomi House hospice prior to Christmas to see exactly where the money they helped to raise would be going. The cast surprised the children by arriving in full costume and spent time entertaining the youngsters.

This is the fourth year that The Anvil has supported Naomi House by allowing volunteers to hold collections after pantomime performances. The collection last year raised around £6500 so the assistance of Peter Pan, Captain Hook and a roller-skating Tinkerbell seems to have made a real difference.

Debbie Loveridge, chair of the Basingstoke Fundraising Committee said:

“It’s been a busy but very enjoyable time for the volunteer collectors at the Anvil and Haymarket throughout the Pantomime season. We are extremely grateful to the people of Basingstoke for their huge generosity and of course, to Anvil Arts for allowing us to organise the bucket collections after performances. Special mention must go to the cast of Peter Pan for helping us with the collections and for all of their help and kindness throughout December.”

Sue McCleester, Head of Operations at Anvil Arts said:

“We are delighted to be able to help such a good cause as Naomi House and very happy that the audiences for our successful Christmas shows were so generous”.