ST JOHN’S sixth form students are getting behind the Prospect Hospice Savernake Appeal by raising funds through this year’s panto – oh, yes they are.

After the success of their inaugural panto Cinderella last year, some of the school’s International Baccalaureate (IB) students have decided to stage another.

This year the sixth formers have chosen Alice in Wonderland the Panto, splitting the profit from ticket sales equally between the Savernake Appeal, Mind and Wiltshire Young Carers.

The production is being directed and produced by IB students Sophie Anstee de Mas, Helena France and Olivia Snell.

Sophie said: “We’ve all been in productions out of school – a village panto and things like that – but this is our first experience of actually producing one. It’s been really interesting.”

Costs have been kept to a minimum to insure that as much money as possible is donated to the charities.

The whole production is likely to cost less than £200, with cast members all donating £1 towards the cost and £150 has been raised through a bake sale.

Where possible, costumes have been borrowed from other productions and the set will be adapted from the school’s production of Beauty and the Beast, taking place the week before.

Other charity performances by students have raised around £1,000 but the girls hope to top that figure because last year’s panto was so well received.

Helena said: “We wanted to support smaller charities because the money will have more of an impact and they’re more local to us so they have more meaning.

“It’s nice for people in IB who are not necessarily great actors or great singers to be able to get involved because it’s all about the performance. It’s just a fun, family night out.

“When we did our auditions we were blown away by how many people actually wanted to be part of the panto. We had to add in more parts.”

The panto is on Thursday, December 11, and Friday, December 12, between 7pm and 9pm. Doors open at 6.30pm.

Tickets are £6 for adults (£4 concessions), with booking forms from St John’s student services, or by emailing www.stjohns.wilts.sch.uk