The Albany in Deptford given £4k by Tesco to fund theatre trips for children

A theatre in Deptford has received £4,000 from the Tesco Bags of Help scheme for its ‘Theatre trip for Every Child’ campaign.

The Albany is a performing arts centre and is finding new ways to engage children and their families.

The programme aims to offer a special theatre experience to children who may not otherwise be able to afford to go.

The Bags of Help funding boost has paid for 400 theatre tickets for Year 1 children in Lewisham, who are from the schools which have the most children eligible for free school meals.

Since launching in 2015, Bags of Help has provided more than £82 million to more than 27,000 community projects.

The Albany was chosen in first place by Tesco customers in the Lewisham area from a shortlist of three local projects to receive funding.

Gavin Barlow, chief executive at The Albany, said: “The ‘A Theatre Trip for Every Child’ scheme is a great way of us being able to remind Lewisham residents that there’s an arts centre on their doorstep.

“The Tesco Bags of Help Scheme gives individuals the power to choose what they want to support. By voting, local people are contributing to a local primary school child’s first experience of theatre with us.”

A quarter of the population in the Lewisham area is under the age of 19, and the borough has the highest proportion of children and young people in economic deprivation in England.

Claire De Silva, head of community at Tesco, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers who vote in Bags of Help and who get to decide how the funding will be spent in their community.

“We’re delighted that we can help initiatives such as this to open up the theatre to young people, with The Albany who are really at the heart of their community.”