Ukranian refugees invited to enjoy Christmas panto fun at New Theatre Royal

The team behind this year's panto at the Portsmouth theatre, a production of Sleeping Beauty, has welcomed 40 members of the Ukrainian refugee community into the audience with a helping hand from the Gosport Discovery Centre.

Library assistant Nicola Mckinlay-Watts approached the theatre after setting up succesful workshops at the centre, during which refugees were taught English, many of them from scratch. This has been done alongside Yulia Trepez, who came over from Ukraine in June where she worked as an English teacher.

Nicola decided to give arrivals from Ukraine, who have been offered support at the Discovery Centre over the last six months, the chance to apply their new language skills through community activities.

Hampshire County Council’s executive member for countryside, culture and communities, Councillor Russell Oppenheimer said: ‘Having a good understanding of English is key to helping Ukrainian guests to settle, and to access jobs or to learn at school. The fantastic team at the Gosport Discovery Centre has worked hard to provide a warm welcome to new arrivals through a package of support which has included help to learn English.

‘With Christmas just around the corner, library team assistant Nicola, wanted to organise a joyful experience for Ukrainian families who have endured so much. We are grateful to New Theatre Royal for their very generous gift of these pantomime tickets which we hope brought some festive cheer

The theatre, which staged performances of Cinderella last December, has promised ‘live music, stunning sets, slick choreography and sensational costumes’ in their latest pantomime, which opened on Friday, December 9 and runs until Saturday, December 31.

New Theatre Royal marketing manager Andy Sheppard added: ‘We have all been so moved by the stories we have heard about the war in Ukraine and what the Ukrainian people are going through. So when Nicola approached us, we were more than delighted to give these families the chance to come to the theatre to enjoy a magical and festive evening out together. We hope going forward there is more we can do.’