December 20, 2013Written by Loraine Coleman, Co-ordinator/Project Manager for Herefordshire HeartstartPress Launch Day in September saw the debut of Little Anne for her very first Courtyard appearance.  She was very excited when she first got to meet the Dames.  She was led to believe that she was there for the photos, but to her surprise she had a near miss with a kiss, when they attempted to give her mouth to mouth (see picture), oh my not such bliss!Being legless she was unable to make a getaway as swiftly as her plus one.  She was rescued by the Prince, and then thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the carriage with the Dames.  Thankfully this time she was protected from their advances by Cinderella and the Prince, but sadly no ride ensued.

After the excitement of this day Little Anne had to lie down in a darkened room for a very long time and has never seen the light of day since!

So out came Baby and Junior Anne for the opening night of the pantomime.  With willing Heartstart volunteers ready to beautify them and transform two very dull tables into tables of delight.

With a magical Christmas tree beautifully decorated; a pretty donation box brought back to life and transformed into an object of beauty, after suffering a nasty accident on the tarmac with only hours to spare!  To pictures galore depicting the Heartstart story, with successes of lives saved and new lifesavers trained.

Baby and Junior Anne waited for their audience to arrive, to admire and adore.  The theatre began to fill, but the crowd soon dispersed and they were alone once more.

Mrs Heartstart (aka Loraine) along with two young Heartstart volunteers took their seats for what was a magnificent performance of Cinderella. With stunning scenery, beautiful costumes and a brilliant cast.  The whole story was captivating, and eye wateringly hilarious. The children whooped with delight.

Sadly it had to end, but we can honestly say, that it really was the best pantomime we’ve seen in Hereford and we didn’t want it to end.  So much so we can’t wait to go again and would highly recommend it everyone, both young and old alike, it’s not just for children, so come on and book tonight.

Now with our tale about to end, onto tales of new, of how Herefordshire Heartstart plans to continue training schools staff and communities too.  Training teachers is really quite fun, with many budding thespians, role playing our casualties, so that soon one day they will be teaching pupils across the county.  So many groups and organisations will be benefitting too, from valuable advice on how to save a life too.

To communities filled with thousands more people who can save, someone’s life they love so much, or a mere stranger in need of lifesaving help.

So we hope you will all join in and dig into your wallets filled with gold, silver, in fact any note will do, just throw your money in the bucket and help us in all we do.  If you fail to see the buckets filled with gold, then grab your credit card and dial the Courtyard, donate and gift aid as you go or Text UGLY 13 £5 to 70070.

Merry Christmas.