THE Regal Theatre’s volunteers are to receive the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest honour a voluntary group can be given in the UK and equivalent to the MBE.

At the Regal, more than 200 volunteers provide all the drive and skills not only to sustain a 90-year-old building with 400-seat auditorium as fit for modern purpose, but to run every aspect of its busy calendar.

The theatre is entirely run by volunteers who work a total of 70,000 hours a year – equating to around £200,000 – in pursuit of their ethos ‘For the Community, By the Community’.

Their work enables the Regal to present 150 events to audiences totalling some 25,000 a year, in a varied programme which including theatre, ballet, opera, concerts, films and live screenings.

Their work enables the Regal to present 150 events to audiences totalling some 25,000 a year, in a varied programme which including theatre, ballet, opera, concerts, films and live screenings.

Volunteers manage, maintain and run the Regal building to meet rigorous security and health and safety standards and operate the advanced technology of a new GDPR compliant ticketing system on the box office.

They administer the Friends of the Regal scheme, with more than 1,500 members, and the Regal Film Society, which is one of the largest film societies in the country with nearly 600 members, and produce and distribute regular publicity material and newsletters.

Volunteers operate complex light and sound equipment for stage productions and a digital cinema package of the type installed in commercial cinemas for film performances and live screenings and design and build complex stage sets. On performance nights, they provide a highly-trained theatre manager, a front of house team and run a full bar.

"The Regal Theatre volunteers are immensely proud to receive the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service,’ said Regal Theatre chairman Victoria Thomas. “This really is a great honour and comes at a time when it is most needed."