UPDATE ON SCAFELL PIKE ASCENT!

WELL ,WE WERE NEARLY THERE... AND THEN THE DREADED SWINE FLU DECIMATED THE TEAM!

Swine flu produces particularly nasty complications in camels and sheep, but nothing of course to compare with the miserable, shivering, sweating, croaking lump which Paul turned into on Thursday night. So the trip has had to be postponed until the middle of October (the best weather day in the 16/17 weekend).

Although Paul was keen to battle on at all costs, surprisingly none of the other members of the team fancied sharing a tent with him or risking another shivering, sweating, croaking moment half way up. And the Scafell summit phone link-up with BBC Cumbria might have been obliterated by sustained coughing.

It was a beautiful day yesterday in Cumbria as well... so we're all really miffed and Paul is still in isolation.

HOWEVER THIS IS MERELY A SET BACK AND WE WILL GO VERY SOON TO COMPLETE THIS UNIQUE EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF RIDING LIGHTS THEATRE COMPANY.

Thank you for your sponsorship so far. The upside of all this is of course that there is more time to raise even more money!! SO KEEP YOUR SPONSORSHIP COMING, because everything written below is still true...

We're off to the top of England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike, to film an astonishing sky high version of that great epic of yesteryear THE TEN COMMANDMENTS... er... with puppets and various friends and expedition helpers. Nothing as remarkable or so artistically risky as this has ever been attempted before. We are clearly going to sail into the Guinness Book of Records. The first filming of a theatre show on England's highest peak.

Long-standing Riding Lights performers Snowy and Desmond will be reaching new heights with this towering project. Being quite small (and ancient), this will be hard work for our favourite puppets, as it will for the film crew. SO MAKE SURE YOU ENCOURAGE THEM BY SPONSORING GENEROUSLY and then sit back and enjoy the great movie remake.

A TREMENDOUSLY BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS ALREADY CONTRIBUTED!!

RIDING LIGHTS is seeking a new production fund to create more of the life-changing theatre that we want to take across the UK in the coming years... for young people, prisoners, theatres and church groups. On September 12th and 13th many of our friends will be taking part in all sorts of sky-high fundraising to help us reach our target.

TO SPONSOR THIS EXTRAORDINARY THEATRICAL EVENT, JUST CLICK HERE

FIRST SKY DIVES

Almost immediately after the end of the Improthon, our first The Sky's the Limit Sky Divers were in the air. Heather Rushforth, Darcy Ball and Richard Allsopp took off over Oxford and gracefully descended as the sun began to set - and all to raise money for Riding Lights. Many thanks to the three of you.



There's more sky diving today as RL Stage Manager Rob Gooch and loyal member, Angela Smith, make their way into the Oxfordshire skies.....and then down again!

They did it!!

Our last team of improvisers - some of whom had been here for the full 24 hours, some of whom had been here for many, many of the 24 hours brought the Improthon to a triumphant conclusion at 5pm today.


Somewhat crazed by the experience, a few of them couldn't quite grasp the fact that they could re-enter the real world again and didn't have to keep making things up.

They'll be ready for a rest now and our thanks go out to them for entertaining themselves (and us) for this marathon of improvisation which kept us laughing right up to the end, helping to raise even more money for The Sky's the Limit.

As we sign off from the Improthon, our first sky jumpers are about to take off over Oxford...

24 HOUR NON-STOP IMPROTHON

Watch the fundraising Improthon here:

http://www.ridinglights.org/sub_sites/stl/video.html

24 hours of non-stop improvising from 5pm Friday 11th - 5pm Saturday 12th September

Pledge your sponsorship here:

www.justgiving.com/riding-lights

FUNDRAISING UPDATE!!

Here we are in the week leading up to our big Fundraising Weekend and there's already news to report! Members of Riding Lights Theatre took part in a sponsored bike ride last Saturday raising over £1,000 towards The Sky's The Limit.




You can read a bit more about this and even see a video by clicking HERE

You can also see read about some other activities happening as part of The Sky's the Limit next weekend and it's certainly not too late to add your sponsorship by clicking HERE

Non-stop Theatre!

The Sky's the Limit - Fundraising Update

Buy Rob Gooch a parachute! Our stage manager Rob is going to be jumping out of an aeroplane on Saturday 12th September. As yet, he can’t afford to buy a parachute. Help him out by donating to his parachute fund HERE. He’d much prefer it if he had one come September, so be generous.


Snowy and Desmond perform at the top of mountains with Paul Burbridge and Kelvin Goodspeed. Long standing Riding Lights performers Snowy and Desmond will be reaching new heights with old sketches. Being quite small, this will be hard work for our favourite puppets, so make sure you encourage them by sponsoring generously HERE.


Riding Lights Youth Theatre fancy dress sponsored bike ride! Sally Maddison will be leading her adventurous Youth Theatre dressed in silly clothes 27 miles on the Tissington Trail in Ashbourne. She admits she’s never been able to finish this track herself, having tried it three times, so we’re hoping RLYT will help Sally to beat her record of ‘half way round’. You can sponsor the Youth Theatre HERE.