The Apollo Theatre, Isle of Wight receive the KAVS – Kings Award for Voluntary Service.

LTG Rep Hilary Foister writes:

The first week of June was National Volunteer Week – and it couldn’t have been more appropriate for the Apollo Theatre Players.

The Players are based in Newport, Isle of Wight, and are the only LTG member on the Island. Their theatre, a former Methodist chapel, was purchased in 1970 and converted by a team of dedicated volunteers, and by 1972 they had put on their first play. Since then they have presented around 350 productions, as well as supporting a youth theatre, offering space for hire by community groups, showing National Theatre Live screenings and putting on members’ evenings and other cultural activities. They have plans for upgrading many of the theatre’s facilities and are working on a fundraising campaign – and all this thanks to the unceasing efforts of their dedicated and committed membership, which currently stands at about 220.

The Players were recently awarded the King’s Award for Voluntary Service, or KAVS, for ‘preserving and running an amateur theatre for the benefit of the community’. It’s the most important and significant event in the Players’ 53-year history and they are enormously proud of what they’ve achieved. The citation referred to their member numbers, the fact that everything they do in the theatre is through voluntary effort – including maintaining and preserving their precious listed building – and their inclusivity and cultural contribution to our community.

As a treat, two of their members were invited to Buckingham Palace in May to attend one of the King’s garden parties, but the real honour came on 4 June when the Vice Lord Lieutenant – himself a member of the Players – came to the theatre to give them the Award in person. Three community groups on the Isle of Wight were honoured this year – in itself a remarkable achievement for so small a community – but it was particularly special for the Players as the only member of the Little Theatre Guild to receive it.

The Award itself is a beautiful piece of crystal with the logo embedded within it which will soon have pride of place in the theatre foyer.

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