Focus on ... Charities

So... SE Berks Gang Show is awesome! I know, right! And part of the reason we're awesome (other than, you know, our general awesomeness!) is that we give local cubs, brownies, guides and scouts the chance to perform and showcase their many talents on the main stage of a working theatre, giving some that first taste of stardom, and others a huge boost in their own self confidence. As a gang, we ROCK!


But it's not just the oppourtunites we create for our own youngsters that make us amaze-balls! Each year the show raises money for charities that support children, locally and nationally. With bucket collections and raffles, which run throughout show week, we put our talents towards helping others. We've helped over 25 charities, many of them local, and have altogether raised over £22500!

1987 Mark Hope Fund - Burns Unit, Guys Hospital	£900
1988 Scout & Guide Project - Gt Ormond Street	£700
1989 Berkshire Ambulance - Defribrillators	£600
1990 Go For a Million Scout Challenge - Barnardoes	£530
1991 RNIB Looking Glass Appeal Sunshine House School	£530
1992 Royal Berks Hospital Childrens Diabetic Clinic	£800
1993 Paul Bevan Hospice	£900
1994 Childrens Resource Centre - Bracknell	£900
1995 Home Start S.E.Berkshire	£725
1996 NSPCC East Berkshire	£675
1997 BBC Children In Need	£850
1998 Heatherwood Hospital Childrens Unit	£875
1999 CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young)	£850
2000 The Ark - South Hill Park	£900
2001 DEBRA The Butterfly Children	£1100
2002 Daisy's Dream	£950
2003 HCPT The Pilgrims Trust	£1000
2004 ThamesValley & Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust	£1068
2005 S.E.Berkshire Deaf Childrens Society	£800
2006 Menigitus Research Foundation	£900
2007 PEACH (Parents for the Early intervention of Autism)	£900
2008 Different Strokes	£800
2009 Sebastian’s Action Trust	£1000
2010 CLAPA	£800
2011 KIDS South East	£800

This year our chosen charity was Stepping Stones Down Syndrome Support Group, run by parents, for parents and carers of children with Down’s Syndrome in North Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey.We managed to raise over £800 for this very worthwhile organisation.


It's not easy trying to choose where to donate our funds though. Suggestions are heard from all members of the gang, and the Producers and other members of the backstage team have to make some difficult decisions. We try to help those charities with a local connection, or occasionally a personal connection to a member of the gang. As Scouts and Guides are youth organisations, we have a close connection to those aimed at helping to support children. There are so many valuable and worthwhile charities to support, and although we would like to donate to each and every one of them, we try to choose a different one each year. 


What charity do you think we should be supporting? Let us know in the comments below.



On a side note, we, the gang, are a charity too. It costs money to put on a good show, and we make no profit from it. Any money left over at the end of the show just goes towards sets, costumes, scenery for the next year's show. So we also have to fundraise for ourselves. Well this year, we're getting a bit of help. 

Every month the Bracknell branch of Waitrose will donate £1000 between three local good causes chosen from the local communtiy. At the checkout you'll receive a token, which you then place in the box of the good cause you'd most like to support. The more tokens a cause gets, the bigger the donation they receive. We are one of the chosen charities for the month of May! So if you find yourself in Waitrose in the next month, be sure to pop your token in our box!

And remember...

Whattchagotta do?

SMILE!!!!!