AN amateur dramatics group has donated £500 to Seashell Trust.

Junior Stage 80 staged four sell-out performances of Oliver! at Sale Waterside Arts Centre in December.

Cast member Andrew Farley's son James, who is 17 and who has an autism spectrum condition, has recently started attending at Seashell Trust, a charity which educates and cares for children with profound disabilities.

Andrew played the miserable Mr Sowerberry in the production of Oliver and trod the boards alongside his other sons Daniel and Julian.

Julie Besbrode, producer with South Manchester-based Junior Stage 80, said: “Each year we try to make enough money through sponsorship and ticket sales to break even and if we have any left over we make a donation to charity.

“Oliver was a huge success, with a full house every night and we managed to make enough profit to allow us to make a donation to a charity of our choice. We voted on which charity we wanted to donate to and Seashell was the unanimous decision.”

Dominic Tinner, head of fundraising at Seashell Trust in Cheadle Hulme, said: “There is nothing more inspiring than young people raising funds for other young people facing great challenges in their lives; in this case those with the most complex communication difficulties who attend our special school and specialist college.”