The New Vic has pledged its support for Staffordshire County Council’s and Staffordshire Samaritans’ Longest Night campaign and will illuminate it’s iconic in-the-round building in green to show solidarity with the cause this Wednesday, 21 December.
Taking place on the shortest day of the year, the campaign aims to remind anyone going through a tough time that they can contact the Samaritans for support, with its support line open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including over Christmas and New Year. Anyone can contact Samaritans for free, at any time, by calling 116 123.
It comes as the New Vic also extends its Open House Café, which runs every Tuesday from 10am to 11am at the theatre, over Christmas and into the new year as part of Stoke-on-Trent’s Welcoming Spaces network.
An initiative originally set up in May last year as a collaboration between the New Vic’s Education Department and their Creative People and Places Programme, Appetite, the New Vic’s Open House Café offers a warm, welcoming space to members of the local community who find themselves isolated following the Covid pandemic. Offering a free hot drink, light refreshments and the opportunity to have good conversations and make new friends, the initiative now continues to provide a space for anyone to reach out, connect and combat loneliness in a warm, welcoming space.
The New Vic’s Open House Café is available every Tuesday from 10 – 11am.