[T]he Starlight Christmas Pantomime is coming to the Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle on Tuesday 2 January.
Starlight is a national charity that grants once-in-a-lifetime wishes for seriously and terminally ill children and provides entertainment in hospitals and hospices across the UK. Over the eight-week tour, the Starlight Christmas Pantomime will visit 92 children’s wards throughout Great Britain, starting at Evelina London Children’s Hospital and finishing at Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle.
This year’s pantomime is Cinderella. Fully interactive, this new adaptation of the classic children’s story is full of fun and the young patients will get to laugh, cheer and sing-a-long as the four actors perform for the children, their families and the staff.
Jane McCall, play specialist at the Cumberland Infirmary, said: “We use play to help entertain and distract children from their illness or injury and there’s nothing like a good pantomime to capture a child’s imagination. We’re really looking forward to it”
Sue Wildman, Head of Children’s Services at Starlight Children’s Foundation, said: “Starlight aims to improve a child’s stay in a hospital or hospice by providing entertainment and distraction. Starlight’s Christmas Pantomime is a fabulous way of spreading some much-needed festive cheer to hospitalised children and their families over the Christmas period. We hope that this performance of Cinderella will be just what the doctor ordered!”