In April 2023, the group opened for the Bench Theatre’s production of ‘Bob and Doris are Not Afraid’ during their two-week run at The Spring (Havant) with group members presenting their stories and poems. The comedy play was themed around the climate crisis, which was a perfect fit for the group’s focus on raising awareness for environmental issues.
The pre-show talks covered two different themes, which were raising money for two different projects within the Trust. The first theme was ‘Making Places for People’ raising money for a wilder Hampshire and Isle of Wight; the second theme was ‘Life Beneath the Surface’ fundraising for the Solent Seagrass Restoration Project. As the supporting act, members of the group took to the stage first to deliver performances of their short stories and poetry complemented by short talks from a selection of inspiring environmental speakers.
Trust Marine Officer, Ellie Parker, even joined the group for some of the Life Beneath the Surface performances and delivered two short talks on the progress of the project and the marine life in the Solent that we are helping to protect, which was very well received by the audience. Talks about seagrass were also delivered by Helen, group founder, and one of our volunteer Seagrass Champions to help provide additional knowledge on this incredible marine flowering plant.
The audience were incredibly engaged in the work and each performance was met with a mixture of laughter and quiet when needed as well as enthusiastic applause and compliments during the interval. The variety of work presented, in a variety of ways, made for a really special programme of performances, showcasing the talent of the volunteers within the group.
