At the end of June, the Algarveans Experimental Theatre Group put on a successful production of Tim Firth’s Calendar Girls at Lagoa Auditorium. This poignant yet funny comedy told the true story of the Yorkshire WI ladies who set out to raise funds to buy a sofa for their local cancer ward by selling a calendar with tasteful nude pictures of the ladies. They were so successful they ended up raising enough money to build a cancer wing for the hospital.
The Algarveans saw there was an opportunity to raise funds to support the Algarve Oncology Association (AOA) through their production. The sellout performances produced a donation of €2 per ticket. They held a raffle and produced their own quality calendar for 2014 in which the female cast and crew posed in equally tasteful fashion.
Steve Dackombe, the group’s treasurer, said: “The Algarveans are happy to announce that so far they have raised more than €9,000 for the AOA and the amount is still rising with ongoing donations for calendars. We can’t believe the generosity that our audience and supporters have shown. We still have calendars for which donations can be made. They make fantastic Christmas presents and hopefully we can get to our target of €10,000!”
Calendars are available at the Linen Etc stand No. 24 at BLiP in Portimão Arena on October 5 and 6.
