AROUND THE COUNTIES CH AR I T Y N EWS D E C E MB ER 2025
BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME GALA EVENT £20,000 RAISED FOR WORK WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
A recent gala evening at Birmingham Hippodrome has raised over £20,000 to support the Hippodrome’s youth programmes.
165 guests attended the sell-out event on the opening night of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which is cur rently running at Birmingham Hippodrome until Saturday 15 November.
Hosted by Ar tistic Director & CEO Jon Gilchr ist, with Alexia McIntosh and Will Jack son, the guests included Hippodrome patrons, event supporters, corporate par tners and funders.
All funds raised f rom the night will enable more exceptional creative work to take place for young people through the Hippodrome, expanding per formance oppor tunities for young people and delivering creative education work in 30 par tner schools across Birmingham.
Judith Greenburgh, Head of Fundraising and Development at Birmingham Hippodrome said: “We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of our guests, it’s a fantastic sum to raise which will enable us to provide more access to creative experiences for young people across the region. I would also like to say a huge thank to our prize donors and event partners.”
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CHARITY NEWS - DECEMBER 2025 WHERE’S TONY?
COV ENTRY FOODBANK CHRISTMAS CAMPAIGN
A Coventry foodbank user-come-volunteer finds himself the focus of this year’s festive fundraising campaign to help tackle the rising food crisis in the city.
Tony Lee, f rom Bedworth, is the ‘star ’ of the char ity’s latest fundraiser Where’s Tony?, a play on the popular hide and seek picture puzzle book s Where’s Wally?
As well as a fun social media campaign running every other day throughout December, the 12 car toon scenes, depicting locations in Coventry and the foodbank , also form the basis of a fundraising calendar, available to purchase f rom the char ity now.
The campaign aims to raise awareness as well as thousands of pounds for the under -pressure foodbank , which has 15 centres throughout the city.
Tony was fir st brought into contact with the foodbank in 2012 af ter a spell in hospital with septic ar thr itis, a ser ious condition which lef t him unable to work for many months while battling back to health.
He said: “I was so short of money; I had to borrow from family just to be able to have the heating on. The foodbank was a lifeline for me during that time. I was so grateful, and when I was well enough,
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I started volunteering at the foodbank. And a couple of years after that, I was employed as a member of staff.
“I enjoy working for the charity and get satisfaction from helping people, and I get to see that every day. Working with the charity has given me confidence; it’s given me purpose.”
Tony’s is a true story, and there are thousands more stories like it,
told by people who have found themselves in a dif ficult position and needing help. People like Tony.
The calendars are £5 plus postage and can be purchased at:
https://coventryfoodbank.org.uk/wheres-tony/ Donors who start a regular monthly donation to Coventry foodbank in December will receive a free Where’s Tony? 2026 Calendar.
Tickets for the Hippodrome’s next spectacular gala evening at Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes on Thursday 19 March 2026 are on sale now and can be booked by emailing
fundraising@birminghamhippodrome.com.
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