Northumberland theatre group receives £170,000 donation from food business

Mortal Fools, based in Prudhoe received the donation from Primula Cheese, a squeezy cheese brand manufactured in the North East, which donates all its profits to good causes, through its owner Kavli Trust to help support North East community groups.

Mortal Fools was established in 2010 by Kiz Crosbie who has a background as a theatre director and focuses on developing young people's creativity, wellbeing and self-belief using the medium of drama.

The organisation has developed its own educational programmes and digital tools that are used by schools and institutions.

The money donated through Kavli Trust will allow the theatre group to develop new ‘Melva’ and ‘Future Ready’ drama-focused programmes.

CEO and artistic director Kiz said: “We’ve seen the mental health challenges experienced by young people exponentially increase across the last few years and therefore, it has never been more important for us to find new ways to engage young people and meaningfully support their wellbeing.

“The work funded by Kavli Trust will do just that via our Melva and Future Ready projects, enabling a needs responsive early intervention, providing safe spaces for young people to be themselves and scaffold towards good mental health.

"This investment enables the next chapter of this work and is an important direct investment into young people and their wellbeing at a crucial time."

Kavli Trust also donated £171,000 to North Shields charity, Cedarwood Trust which focuses on addressing food poverty in the local area.

The money will help the charity to build a new, ‘green’ kitchen, to allow the trust to continue to create hundreds of healthy and affordable meals.

Gareth Watson, brand communications manager at Primula Cheese said: “Sharing is at the heart of everything we do here at Primula and has been for the last sixty years. We focus on donating our profits to causes who are truly helping to make a difference. We’re thrilled that two deserving local causes will benefit from this donation of £341,000.

“The Cedarwood Trust and Mortal Fools are two incredible charities who have already supported thousands of families across our region, during particularly difficult times. It’s humbling to know that this donation will positively impact communities across the North East.”