For more than 25 years, the charity Children on the Edge has helped marginalised and forgotten children living on the edge of their societies.
Working in partnership with local communities, they create safe, friendly environments to ensure that those who may possibly be ignored receive the childhood they deserve. The organisation is constantly looking to raise funds to support its work and recently held a fundraising evening as part of Chichester Festival Theatre’s Winter Season. With its strong reputation in theatre, along with its frequent charity work, White Light was asked to provide its support on this occasion.
The fundraiser, entitled Spotlight on the Edge, was held on Sunday 24 January at the Festival Theatre, Chichester. The evening featured a colourful array of music, songs and dance, with all of the proceeds going directly to the work of Children on the Edge.
Sam Garner-Gibbons, Technical Co-ordinator at Chichester Festival Theatre, commented, “The purpose of the evening was to raise money for a vital cause by putting on a spectacular show. With the Festival Theatre being renowned for producing high-quality performance work, we wanted to ensure that the fundraiser was no exception.”
The two-hour show featured a cast of talented young people, including the Chichester Festival Youth Theatre, Dance Innovation, Arabesque School of Performing Schools, West Sussex Music and Chichester Music Academy.
Garner-Gibbons added, “With more than 220 performers, a variety of different acts, along with it being quite a fast and hectic show, we required lighting equipment that would be able to do justice to each performance and create an unforgettable evening. We knew that WL would be able to do just this.”
As a result, Garner-Gibbons contacted Bryan Raven, WL’s Managing Director, with their requirements for the festival. This included a large selection of Martin MAC 700 washes.
Garner-Gibbons stated, “We have a really strong working relationship with WL and use their kit on the vast majority of our shows. Once again, they were extremely generous with their services and we are extremely grateful for the equipment they supplied without any hesitation.”
Spotlight on the Edge was a huge success and managed to raise £10,138 in total. Emily Dadson, Events Organiser at Children on the Edge, commented, “We can’t say thank you enough to everyone involved for giving their time, energy and talent to make Spotlight on the Edge a reality. Both on stage and behind the scenes, so many people came together for one purpose, resulting in a fantastic show and an amazing amount raised for our work.”
The evening marks one of several charity events that WL will be involved in throughout 2016. Raven stated, “At WL, we are always delighted to be involved with events such as this. They allow us a company to use our lighting expertise whilst, at the same time, support a really important cause. With any fundraiser, it’s about putting business to one side and focusing on the bigger issues – which is exactly what happened with Spotlight on the Edge.”