SCHOOLCHILDREN from Beaminster have ‘happy days’ ahead after being gifted a theatre performance by a national charity.

On January 10, pupils from Mountjoy School will be treated to a performance of Beauty and The Beast when the M&M Productions travelling theatre company visit the special school in west Dorset.

The gift comes from the nationwide Happy Days Children Charity which helps local children with a variety of special needs.

Suffia Shah, community fundraiser for the charity said: “We were able to support more than 23,000 children and their families last year alone, but we couldn’t have done this without the amazing help of our volunteers and fundraisers.

“So we’d love to hear from anyone who would like to get involved and support our work.

“Our holidays, day trips, workshops and performances are a lifeline to children across the UK providing them with happiness and hope as well as important social and developmental skills.

“We help families caring for children with life-limiting conditions, disabilities, abused children and young carers and would encourage anyone in the area that would benefit from a respite break to get in touch.

“The young people we help range in age from 3 to 17. They come from many different backgrounds and cultures and suffer many different conditions.

“We offer help to those with learning difficulties, physical or mental disabilities and with acute, chronic or life limiting illnesses.

“We also help young people who have been abused or neglected, witnessed domestic violence, been bereaved or act as carers for a parent or a sibling.

“We fund days out for groups to hundreds of venues throughout the UK, including the seaside, theatre, zoos and farm parks.

“We also arrange activities such as visiting theatres and workshops to visit groups where mobility is a difficulty.”

For more information about Happy Days Children’s Charity call 01582 651234 or visit happydayscharity.org M&M Productions was formed in 1996. Directors, Chris Mitchell, former stage and production manager for Butlins and Margaret Holloway, a former primary school teacher, provide family-oriented theatrical productions.

Chris said: “We now perform to around three million people a year with 35 different productions.

“We’ve got a great office-based team that co-ordinate our actors, write our scripts and make sure people receive the best show possible.”

The theatre company specialise in theatre-in-education, community theatre, classic stories, children’s pantomime and primary school productions.