OUR APPEARANCE ON
THE SECRET MILLIONAIRE
Read more about the people affected by Lyn's gift
Times are hard for small charities like Islington Community Theatre.
In just two years we’ve grown from a tiny after school club into a nationally acclaimed theatre company making a real difference to the lives of hundreds of disadvantaged young people from across the borough.
As we’ve grown, funding has been hard to come by (even with the support of the Dame Alice Owen Foundation, Islington Council and Cambridge Education @ Islington) and it’s been a big struggle to maintain the work we’re already doing - let alone meet the demand from all the young people who’d like to get involved in our projects.
Then, in October last year, a woman called Lyn and a TV researcher called the Islington Community Theatre office. He wanted to know if we needed volunteers - and then whether were interested in being part of a documentary about older people volunteering in their local communities.
When we agreed, we met Lyn, a 'retired secretary' who wanted to find out more about unpaid work in the charity sector. Or so we thought.
Lyn joined us for a couple of weeks, with a camera crew in tow. She was an excellent volunteer - kind, helpful, bright and brilliant with our members. She really believed in what we are doing for local young people.
At the end of the placement we were genuinely sad to see her go - she'd been a great asset to the company. We even offered her the chance to come back to volunteer properly, for a longer time.
And then she revealed that she wasn’t quite who we thought she was.
Our episode of The Secret Millionaire aired on Channel 4 in May 2011.
In total, Lyn donated £27,000 to our company, and also supported two other great charities: Centre 404 and the Over 55s Caledonian Lunch Club)
HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT US TOO
In hard economic times, we’re still working all the hours we can to raise the funds that we’ll need to continue our projects this year and next. Our projects give opportunities to young people who would never normally get them - they raise confidence, give young people new skills and change lives.
Three ways you can help right now: