New Chair of Prestbury Youth Pantomime Association and partnership with Co-op Macclesfield
Prestbury Youth Pantomime Association is a Co-op Cause for the first time. They have been going for 46 years.
By Alex Greensmith
Posted: Monday, 11th March 2024 8:00 am
There is a new Chair for a long-running community institution in Prestbury.
Emma Pickup is the new Chair of Prestbury Youth Pantomime Association.
Emma lives, works and breathes Prestbury. She will be in charge for their next show performed at Macclesfield's MADS Theatre.
The performing arts group performs one big show every January, with recent shows being Cinderella and Dick Whittington.
And now with curtain call being raised on this year's production, outgoing Chair Annabel Beattie has stepped down to allow Emma to prepare for their 2025 show.
Macclesfield Nub News met with Prestbury Youth Pantomime Association, a Co-op Local Community Fund cause this year, for a chat. You can help choose and support Co-op local causes by becoming a Co-op Member.
"I made a decision last year that it would be my last year, but I wanted to give them a year to replace me," said Annabel.
"Emma is the natural person to take over, she is panto alumni, and has been shadowing me for the past year.
Prestbury Youth Pantomime Association has been going since 1978.
Auditions for their 2025 production, for which the title is not publicly revealed yet, will begin in the second week of September.
Children from ages 11 to 18 can take part, with rehearsals ramping up to twice a week in December.
Rehearsals take place at Prestbury Primary School and Prestbury Village Hall. The cast size hovers around 40.
"We are a not-for-profit youth club that focuses on the performing arts and each year we put on a pantomime," explained Emma.
Lifelong friendships are formed through the group, and Emma is a living testament to that, having even met her husband there when she took part as a teenager.
"I started pantomime at Prestbury Youth Pantomime Association when I was 14", said Emma.
"I was the Dame twice. I met my husband here, he asked me out at a panto rehearsal for Sleeping Beauty 30 years ago this year, and we have been together ever since.
"He is now the Assistant Director, I am now taking over as Chair, and our twins are in it. It is a weird circle of life, I feel like someone should be holding a lion over a cliff somewhere singing [a funny reference to The Lion King].
"My mum used to be involved and my husband's parents were too. There is a long history of our families with panto, so it felt like now is our time. If you have children who want to do this sort of thing, it felt right to volunteer and step forward.
"We have a panto alumni Facebook group with people I knew at school and am still in touch with, because you do literally spend four months of your life together in a room with 25-40 other kids. And you do make friendships that last forever.
The majority of pupils attend The Fallibroome Academy, but they also attract students from All Hallows, Macc Academy and King's School Macclesfield.
Emma's appointment is not the only new thing at Prestbury Youth Pantomime Association this year. For the first time, they are a local cause supported by the Co-op Local Community Fund.
This means the Co-op and its members will raise money for them.
To become a Co-op Member, please click HERE.
Prestbury Youth Pantomime Association is very grateful for the support of Co-op Macclesfield and Co-op members.
"It costs £20,000 a year to put a show on, but the main reason is because we do not own anything," explained Annabel.
"We have to hire a lot of the equipment that we use during the show like lighting and microphones, as well as pay rent for rehearsal spaces and the use of MADS Theatre. We also make all of our costumes by hand!"
"There are also things like insurance to pay for," added Emma.
"We have to make sure we have licensed chaperones as well, and make sure of enhanced DBS checks.
"We all use the Co-op in Prestbury, and they have donated items for us to raffle off in the past.
"Thank you so much to the Co-op and their members, it will make such a spectacular difference to the children and that is what we are all about as a youth theatre group.
"Anything that gets raised, goes directly to benefit those children, and it is money that we will really consider how to spend well, so we can keep going year on year.
"As Annabel says, it is really expensive to put on a show. And although we sell tickets, we also are very mindful of the fact that the cost of living crisis makes expenses hard for people.
"Not everybody can afford to choose to go to the theatre. We are a different environment to paying £45 to see a show in Manchester, but we try to keep our ticket prices as low as possible without losing money.
"We want to be as accessible as we can be to families in the local area. Most of our audience are local families. Most families don't have a huge amount of extra funds at the moment, so in order to keep prices low, we want to try to also raise funds in other ways to keep going.
"So that is where the [Co-op] money is going to go, it is going to be spent as carefully and 'thriftfully' as possible."
Prestbury Youth Pantomime Association will be presented with a cheque by the Co-op this November.
They are the first Prestbury cause to be supported by the Co-op Local Community Fund since Pollyanna's Day Nursery two years ago.
Macclesfield: You can also support Prestbury Youth Pantomime Association for FREE by giving them a like on Facebook.
The Co-op are sponsors of Macclesfield Nub News.
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