Over £600,000 Raised For Acting For Others COVID-19 Fund

Theatrical charity, Acting For Others will distribute funds raised across its 14 member charities to support theatre workers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The money has been raised by over 120 extraordinary organisations and initiatives including All The Web's A Stage, Fleabag For Charity, Les Misérables -The Staged Concert Charity Download, Noël Coward Foundation, Theatre Support Fund - The Show Must Go On, Ross Noble Live and Spotlight among many others.

There will be a distribution of £290,000 next week, with an even larger amount from the continuing fund-raising activities to follow very shortly.

Sir Stephen Waley Cohen, co-chair of Acting For Others, today said, "This is a wonderful amount to be able to pass to our member charities, and through them to those of our fellow theatre workers in need. We have been overwhelmed by the ingenuity of our fundraisers and the generosity of their donations during this unprecedented time of need; the way the community has come together to support each other has been outstanding.

"It continues to be a very uncertain time for the industry, and the money raised from the Covid-19 funds will support theatre workers emotionally and financially as we navigate this phase of lockdown. We can't wait for the moment that we can all safely return to the studios and theatres across the UK for live theatre, but for now we are very grateful for everyone who is able to support the charity through any means."

Acting For Others was able to distribute £275,000 to the member charities earlier this year as a result of the pre-closure and 2019 activities, including bucket collections in theatres, One Night Only at The Ivy, and the West End Flea Market.

Theatre Together presented All the Web's a Stage an online event on Shakespeare Day, featuring a variety of live performances from Joanne Clifton, Danny Mac, Marisha Wallace and A4O Ambassadors, Jodie Prenger, Cleve September and La Voix. Performances can still be viewed here, and are free to access with all donations distributed to several arts charities and funds including Acting for Others.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, DryWrite, Soho Theatre and Annapurna Theatre, in partnership with National Theatre Live in London and Amazon Prime Video present the smash-hit Fleabag available until 28 June, via Soho Theatre on Demand and Amazon Prime Video. Proceeds will be donated to a variety of charities and funds including Acting for Others.

The 2013 West End cast of From Here To Eternity reunites for a one time event on Monday 22 June. Stuart Bryson, Tim Rice, Darius Campbell, Siubhan Harrison, Rebecca Thornhill and Robert Lonsdale will join Simon Grieff for the event. Proceeds with be donated to Acting For Others.

From 22 April for every digital download of Les Misérables -The Staged Concert Charity Download The Mackintosh Foundation is separately donating £5.00 to be shared amongst the charity Acting for Others, the Musicians Union Coronavirus Hardship Fund and Captain Tom Moore's Walk for the NHS fund. www.lesmis.com/concert

Noël Coward Foundation marked the centenary of the playwright's first produced play with a £50,000 donation to Acting For Others in response to the extraordinarily difficult circumstances that the theatre profession is currently in.

Theatre Support Fund have produced The Show Must Go On range of merchandise and has currently raised over £125,000 in aid of Acting for Others, Fleabag Support Fund and NHS Charities.

A series of six films from Ross Noble's Brain Dump Tour are available via Soho Theatre On Demand with proceeds going towards Acting For Others.

Spotlight has also donated £50,000 to Acting For Others.

Donations to Acting for Others can be made here: www.justgiving.com/ctcafo

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