The company's Chief Executive Officer Pio Nahum presented a cheque to lighting designer Rick Fisher for Behind the Scenes UK, explaining to the audience that one of the last things approved by the late Pasquale Quadri was this generous contribution to the new charity.
"As an industry, regardless of sector, we all come together to ensure the success of the shows we work on. We work closely together and our colleagues can't help but become our friends. This camaraderie stays with us through the good and bad times and it's only natural that, when our friends fall upon times of hardship through no fault of their own, we want to do anything and everything we can to help them out. We are pleased and proud to offer this support through the Behind the Scenes charity."
Behind the Scenes UK is fundraising tirelessly to bring funds up to a level whereby it is possible to start the granting process. Grants will be made to assist with basic living costs, medical related expenses, transport, retraining and in the worst case, funeral expenses.
Theatre lighting designer Rick Fisher, who sits on the UK charity's board of trustees and accepted the cheque from Pio, said, "My fellow Trustees of Light Relief and I have long talked about how we could extend the charity's work to other areas of the entertainment technology industry, and we are delighted to welcome our sister charity, Behind the Scenes, to the UK.
"Light Relief will continue to use its existing funds to provide assistance to the lighting community, but now there are many more people who will benefit from our experience. Our colleagues in North America have been assisted by Behind the Scenes since the charity launched there eight years ago, but it's still early days for us in the UK, and without donations we can't donate. What you put in is what your colleagues will get out should the worst happen. Having to refuse someone on the grounds of insufficient funds is simply not an option for us."
(Jim Evans)
