Puppet theatre sounds out £4k grant plan

A puppet theatre needs more than £4,000 to buy new equipment as it says its old sound system is on the verge of bowing out for good.

Steppup Puppets, based at Amblecote Christian Centre, is asking for £4,286 to buy a new system, microphones, projector and camcorder.

Chairman Ray Gibbs, of Dunsley Road in Kinver, said: "This money is vital for making the project a success – the stuff we've got now is quite old and packing up. The new equipment we could buy with this money would mean we can really up the quality of what we do.

"If it doesn't go through, we will just have to continue as best we can until we find another way of coming up with the money somehow."

The puppet theatre, set up in 2001, does a variety of events around the Amblecote and Brierley Hill. They put on shows in schools, churches and hospitals, using puppets, music, drama and story telling to educate people about Christian values.

This includes a weekly club at Hawbush Junior School where between 60 and 70 children learn how to make puppets.

The grant would help them to set up a number of additional projects with seven to 11-year-olds in Brierley Hill, including half-term holiday club in October 2010 at other schools around the area. Mr Gibbs said putting on a puppet show was not as simple as he first thought when setting up the group nine years ago.

"You have to pre-record some segments and then perform the show in synchrony with the recording, so it gets quite technical," he added. "It also means the sound system really needs to be top-notch, which ours just isn't at the moment."

Some of the money will also be going towards training volunteers and the children on how to use the equipment and put on a professional-quality show.