The Old Vic Raises Record £235,000 from A CHRISTMAS CAROL Donations

The Old Vic has announced today that audiences for the 2024 production of A Christmas Carol raised a record total of £235,000 for local charity Waterloo Foodbank — the highest total of in-person donations received from festive audiences yet. 

Since Jack Thorne’s adaptation opened in 2017, The Old Vic has held collections throughout the run to raise money for different charities focussed on poverty and food deprivation. The theatre can today confirm that the total raised over the last eight years has now reached an astonishing £1.9million globally. 

A Christmas Carol ran at The Old Vic from 09 Nov 2024 until 04 Jan 2025, with John Simm as Ebenezer Scrooge.

The Old Vic’s Artistic Director and Director of A Christmas Carol, Matthew Warchus, said: ‘I am extremely proud of our annual charity initiatives on A Christmas Carol. The sums of money raised each year have a real-world impact and are a wonderful testament to the effect of the original Dickens tale, plus the inspiring writing, performances and production concepts in this very special adaptation. We put a lot of hard work and commitment into reviving this show year on year, and it is very rewarding to see these efforts paying off, not only in ever-increasing audience numbers but also in this ever-increasing charity donation tally. Huge thanks and congratulations to our audiences for their extraordinary generosity demonstrated in this achievement.’

Steve Chalke, Founder of Waterloo Foodbank, said: ‘The generosity of this extraordinary gift will change countless lives. Not only will it enable us to provide much needed emergency food and support for children and families in crisis living in the community around The Old Vic and well beyond, but also to grow our work with our partners addressing the root causes of food poverty and insecurity, through offering advice and training in nutrition, cooking, baking and employability. Thank you.’

Waterloo Foodbank is based just minutes away from The Old Vic, providing vital food distribution services alongside other support services and pastoral care. In 2023 alone, Waterloo Foodbank and its partners supported over 27,000 people, of which 17,500 were children. The work of its dedicated staff and volunteers changes lives every day, providing hope to community members in need.

As a registered charity itself, The Old Vic recognises the importance of supporting local causes and is grateful for the generosity of its audiences in raising money towards Waterloo Foodbank’s important work.

While The Old Vic’s production is performed in the very borough that inspired Dickens to write A Christmas Carol, the powerful message at the heart of this story resonates globally. This year’s production at the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne raised £93,959 for their local charity SecondBite; the equivalent of 922,670 meals provided to those in need. 

Previous charity recipients include Field Lane, The Felix Project, Coram Beanstalk, FoodCycle, FareShare and City Harvest London.  

Photo CRedit: Manuel Harlan