Published on Monday 29 October 2012 11:41

A NEW initiative has been started between a local charity and the Watergate Theatre to benefit charitable causes, the theatre and theatre-goers themselves.

Anne Cody of Callan’s Ceart PatientWise and Watergate manager Ger Cody first mooted the idea when Ms Cody was cast as one of the zombies in Devious Theatre’s Night of the Living Dead. They made an arrangement whereby if Ceart could bring in more people to see the performance, then a part of the revenue would go towards the charity.

After raising €200 for Ceart PatientWise in this way, they decided to try it with another show, this time paired up with Callan’s Camphill and L’Arche communities, too – and raised €500 for the three groups.

Gerry Diver’s performance on Wednesday of last week was then paired with Lifeline Kilkenny and at least two other pairings are planned for this year.

Bouncers on October 27 will benefit the Irish Wheelchair Association in addition to Ceart, and one of the performances of The House That Jack Filled in November will be paired with Lifeline Kilkenny and Ceart.

Patrons can have part of the proceeds from their ticket sales go to the charities on these selected performances by mentioning the charity when booking their tickets.

Ms Cody is also looking for other charities to take part – the main criteria being that they agree to promote the show in question among their friends, service users and supporters in order to boost ticket sales and therefore the money raised for the causes.

“We need charities that will have databases and can say, ‘Please go to the theatre on this particular night’,” Ms Cody said.

Part of the appeal, she added, was that “we are not asking people for ‘money for nothing.’ They will get something of quality for their money.”

Any charities interested in taking part can contact Anne Cody on 087 9028534 or annecody@ceart.ie.

In the meantime, Ceart PatientWise is also running a self-management course for people who are experiencing or have a family member experiencing pain, stress, low self-esteem, isolation or other problems as a result of long-term and enduring ill-health or disability. The course will be held in the Fr McGrath Centre, Kilkenny starting on November 5 from 10.15am to 12.45pm and continuing on Mondays for six weeks. Places can be booked by contacting Anne Cody. For more information, see www.ceartpatientwise.ie.