Helston’s Epworth Hall committee has been cheered by the donation of £1,000 towards its theatre equipment.

The organisers of the Helstonbury music festival have made the hall the second recipient of money from this year’s event.

Half the donation will be put towards new staging for the hall, with the remainder going towards a new lighting board.

Both lots of equipment are available for use in the community, with the hall’s stakeholders able to use it for free and any other group for a small fee towards its maintenance and insurance.

Epworth Hall committee chairman Mark Upton said: “It’s brilliant. I think it shows local support and support of young people in the town as well.”

The ACT1 theatre group based there now has more than 100 members, while the hall itself has shows booked through to next May – including Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat later this month and the Kernow King on November 15.

“The audiences have seen bigger and better shows and I think that’s reflected in better audience numbers as well,” said Mr Upton, who added that the last three shows had enjoyed full houses.

So far this year hall has also received money from the Mayor’s Fund courtesy of Jonathan Radford-Gaby, from Helston Town Council, Helston Theatre Company and ACT1, with two other groups also pledging funds.

“Thanks to all the stakeholders to date and especially to Helstonbury,” said Mr Upton.