Central London’s first ever Children’s Theatre Festival, Perform in The Park has donated over 20,000 tickets for their shows to primary schools across England in a bid provide more access to theatre.

Lucy Quick Principal and Co-Founder of Perform said today: “At Perform we believe it’s vital to introduce children to theatre from a young age. Theatre tickets can be so expensive these days, and one of my goals for the festival is to make theatre more inclusive. By giving away these tickets hopefully we can enable more and more children to experience the excitement of watching a live theatre show”.

Thousands of families will now get the opportunity to visit Coram’s Fields and attend the festival free of charge, many of whom previously might not have had the opportunities to explore the benefits of theatre such as confidence building and understanding emotions. They can watch productions, Elephant and Piggie’s “We are in a play!”, Mermaids & Pirates, and The Dream.

This is valid for all primary schools, and any primary schools who haven’t yet received the offer, can contact Perform and will be sent the code for free tickets.

Perform has also donated 750 tickets to Coram’s Fields, giving them the opportunity to offer up some fantastic theatrical experience to patients and families of Great Ormond Street Hospital, and the local community.

Stuart Woods CEO of Coram’s Fields said today: “We are absolutely thrilled to be hosting Perform in the Park at Coram’s Fields this year. For so many of our families, the cost of going to the theatre is an expense that they just can’t afford. Our partnership with Perform will see us distribute thousands of free tickets across our local community, including to patients and families from Great Ormond Street Hospital – providing the opportunity for local families to experience the magic of the theatre for the first time, whilst also being able to benefit from our ‘Haven for Play’ for children in the heart of the city.”

Primary Schools too have noted the benefits of this unique scheme:

Andrea Taylor, Founding Principal of Hamstead Hill School, “What a brilliant idea and what a wonderful gift – such a kind and generous gesture, with the idea that the 4 seats be given to either a family who might not otherwise be able to take their children to the theatre or to a member of staff and family who have given outstanding service/help, deserves a heartfelt and meaningful thank you.
It is rare in today’s society to meet with such thoughtfulness and generosity which in this case is made all the greater because Perform are such a wonderful group who share their talents in so many ways.”

Mandy Roberts, School Business Manager at Priory Common School “Thank you so much for the donation of 4 tickets to “Perform in the Park”. We will be using these as a raffle prize at our “Big Picnic” event to celebrate 75 years of the NHS and raise funds for our local hospital, Milton Keynes University Hospital.”