MORE than £14,000 was raised for the Red Cross Tsunami appeal through Ipswich's New Wolsey Theatre.A special late-night performance of the theatre's Rock 'n' Roll pantomime Robin Hood and Babes in the Wood on Friday night attracted an audience of 255 and raised £5,491.

MORE than £14,000 was raised for the Red Cross Tsunami appeal through Ipswich's New Wolsey Theatre.

A special late-night performance of the theatre's Rock 'n' Roll pantomime Robin Hood and Babes in the Wood on Friday night attracted an audience of 255 and raised £5,491.50.

And since Christmas collecting buckets had been placed around the theatre every night – and these raised a further £8,730.90.

The success of the fund-raising delighted theatre bosses.

Sarah Holmes said: "I've very proud to be Chief Executive at the New Wolsey but last Friday night was one of my proudest moments to date.

"I'm very grateful to the panto cast and crew and to all the rest of the staff who made the extra performance possible.

"Box Office, Front of House and office personnel all gave their time free. It was a wonderful night, with a fantastic audience and we all had a lot of fun.

"But it's the public's generosity which truly amazes me.

"Their response has exceeded all expectations and I want to say a huge thanks to everyone who put money in our collection buckets or came to see the late show.

"The Evening Star and other local media were enormously helpful too – once we'd decided to do the extra performance we needed to spread the word very quickly and you were incredibly supportive."