Theatre joins fight to save Zoe's Place

St Helens Theatre Royal said a full house at its half-term panto could raise more than £10,000

A theatre has joined the fight to save a baby hospice from closure.

St Helens Theatre Royal has vowed to donate £15 from every ticket sold for its Sleeping Beauty half-term pantomime to Zoe's Place in Liverpool.

It said if the show managed a full house that would raise £10,500 for the hospice.

Theatre manager Chantelle Nolan described the hospice's potential closure as "terrible news".

She said: "We knew we wanted to do something to help secure the future of what is a vitally important resource for young children and their families in the North West."

Zoe's Place, which caters for babies and children under five with life-limiting and chronic conditions, said it needed to raise more than £5m in the next month to continue providing its services in Liverpool.

Its current site, on Yew Tree Lane in West Derby, is leased from Catholic order the Institute of Our Lady of Mercy.

The order, whose members live on site, said due to its "ageing community" and "greatly reduced number of sisters" it would need to move next year and was seeking to sell the land.

'Worthiest of causes'

Zoe's Place had planned to build a new site on a nearby bowling green, but issues with spiralling construction costs and inflation meant the move fell through.

However after announcing the service would close, the public, businesses, celebrities and politicians began a huge fundraising campaign, which has so far raised more than £1.8m in a matter of days.

Aimee Clare, the charity's capital lead officer, said on Wednesday she was "very confident" a solution could be found.

St Helens Theatre Royal's Sleeping Beauty panto runs from Saturday 26 October to Sunday 3 November, with tickets from £24.

Ms Nolan added: "Knowing how loyal our wonderful panto audiences are, and the generosity of St Helens people, I’m certain that we’re going to raise a lot of money for this worthiest of causes."