Theatre fan's charity drive reaches its finale

Lydia Greatrix has travelled almost 9,000 miles, following the UK and Ireland tour of Come From Away

A theatre fan who was inspired by a musical to organise a nationwide charity initiative has said people's kindness has restored her "faith in humanity".

Lydia Greatrix, who lives in Colchester, adopted the generous spirit of the Come From Away musical by setting up her pay it forward project.

She has helped organise donation drives in almost every location where the musical has been performed during its UK and Ireland tour.

The final show is due to be performed at the Lowry in Salford on Sunday.

"The main thing I have taken away from it, is it restores your faith in humanity a little bit, which is what the show is all about," said the 25-year-old.

The donations drives have taken Ms Greatrix across the UK, including Wolverhampton and Salford

The Olivier and Tony award-winning show tells the true story of how residents in a small town in Newfoundland, Canada, took in passengers who were stranded when their planes were rerouted after the US closed its airspace following the 9/11 attacks.

Ms Greatrix, who is originally from Wolverhampton and grew up in Hinstock in Shropshire, first watched the show in 2019.

By October last year, she had seen it 59 times.

She said her friend Laura Townsend, who died in June 2023, came up with the idea.

As part of the pay it forward campaign, Ms Greatrix has helped organise food bank drives at towns and cities that hosted the touring musical, as well as litter-picks and beach clean-ups.

She said she had visited 23 out of the 27 touring locations, having travelled almost 9,000 miles and raised more than £5,500 for charities.

After the first donation drive took place, she said it had grown in ways she could not have imagined.

"It just goes to show the ripple effect," she said.

"Some of the charities I've worked with have never done something like this before... some places can't believe that someone would go out of there way to do it."

Ms Greatrix is also an ambassador for the Pay it Forward 9/11 charity set up by Kevin Tuerff - who was himself stranded in Newfoundland - and whose story is portrayed in the musical.

Cast members including Mark Dugdale, Kirsty Hoiles and Sara Poyzer - pictured with Ms Greatrix - helped with the donation drive in Ipswich

When the show visited Ipswich in July, a donation drive was set up for the Ipswich Housing Action Group (ihAg) where more than 70 supermarket crates full of items were collected.

Jooles Ramsey-Palmer, chief executive at the charity, said: "There continues to be this very wrong stereotype about the kinds of people who might find themselves homeless, that's a major drawback when it comes to us raising funds.

"To have someone as enthusiastic as Lydia come on the phone... why on earth wouldn't we?"

Come From Away - a Broadway musical - was due to finish its UK and Ireland tour on Sunday

During the Ipswich drive, ihAg asked for pot noodles and porridge pots for the people it supported.

"Everything Lydia's donation drive bought us was gone by October and I do mean everything," said Ms Ramsey-Palmer.

"I've been in the job five years. It's the first time someone has come along in this way... I cannot thank her enough."

Kevin Tuerff, who was stranded in Gander in Newfoundland, founded the Pay It Forward 9/11 charity, which Ms Greatrix is an ambassador for

For Emmanuel House, a homelessness charity which has been running in Nottingham city centre, this was the first time it had teamed up with its local theatre.

Rosie Needham-Smith, marketing and fundraising manager, said setting up a donation drive in this way "enabled people to become part of the solution of a very complex problem".

She said £1,200 was also raised for Emmanuel House through bucket collections as part of the initiative.

"We hadn't anticipated making any money off this at all… it was even more amazing," she said.

Reflecting on the tour, Ms Greatrix hoped this kind of social action could continue.

"In an ideal world we wouldn't need food banks or homeless shelters, but they exist and they need our help and the arts - and people who go to the theatre who might have a bit of extra disposable income - we should be putting money in the pot and helping," she said.