The Egg Theatre's Wonderfund magic extends!

On Thursday 24^th February, Bath's dedicated young people's theatre The Egg hosted the magical Wonderfundraiser to celebrate the Theatre's unique initiative the Wonderfund and acknowledge the support of charities, trusts and individuals who have supported the Wonderfund journey so far.

But looking back to the end of last year when plans for the Wonderfund began to emerge, nobody could have predicted just how much there would be to celebrate by the time the event came around...

The Wonderfund originally simply aimed to help schools come back to The Egg in the post-Covid climate. But at the very start of The Egg's Wonderfund journey, local business owner Mark Roper listened very carefully when The Egg described a dream scenario to raise enough money to triple the number of performances for schools and make all the tickets free. The Roper Family Charitable Trust reached out, offering to donate only if The Egg secured £80,000. “We want to make sure you achieve your aims and outcomes,” said Mark; “we don’t want to see a scaled-down project.” Challenge accepted!

To date, the Wonderfund has raised the funds needed to offer up to 4000 Egg Theatre tickets to state schools over the next 12 months and alleviate other barriers such as transport and teacher cover for the schools facing the greatest hardship.

“We started to see that, with ongoing support, we could extend the Wonderfund programme beyond 2022,” says Andrea Harris, Head of Development at Theatre Royal Bath. “It feels like a real victory when prestigious local trusts such as The Roper Family Charitable Trust, The Medlock Charitable Trust and The Linder Foundation recognise children's ability to access the arts as vital to their wellbeing, education and fulfilment.”

By the time The Egg hosted the Wonderfundraiser event, the initiative had grown almost organically to become much bigger than expected. Theatre Royal Bath’s loyal audience, trusts and local businesses began calling for the Wonderfund to become a permanent feature of local children’s lives – and Wonderfund supporters announced a response to that call.

“The next generation to contribute to our thriving creative community is already here, but they might not realise it from an early age if their lives aren’t impacted by an invitation to be a part of the arts,” says Lexi Learmond, Founder and Owner of Always Sunday. “Always Sunday is built on the creative ideas and passionate souls based here in Bath just like so many other companies here, but we won’t be sustainable without investing into our future and the Wonderfund represents that opportunity. We join this mission with pride to give back to the city that makes us and inspires us to see the beauty in everything it can be.”

“With ongoing support, we believe we can extend the Wonderfund programme to Spring 2024 and beyond,” says Andrea Harris, “New partners are emerging all the time, and we're looking at ways that we can work with community-minded corporates, the local authority and fellow charities to layer up opportunities that give the best impact for children and teachers.”

A full schedule of Wonderfund activities and initiatives will be announced towards the end of this month, including details of a dance tour specifically designed for school playgrounds and a whole host of wonderful opportunities for school groups to see live performance at The Egg all the way up to Christmas 2022... and beyond.

"A full theatre programme and enhanced support to teachers has quickly become a tangible goal – and not just for this year,” says Kate Cross MBE, Director of The Egg. “Thanks to the hugely positive reception and support that our local community has so readily offered us, our aim is to establish the Wonderfund as an ongoing feature of Bath life, making absolutely sure that every school is supported to embrace the arts and bring their children to the theatre."