A CHURCH congregation pulled out all the stops to enable families to enjoy a festive treat.

The Parish Church of St Mary, in Radcliffe, stepped into the unknown and staged its first pantomime — Dick Whittington.

For the past year, members of the church have run a monthly Saturday Café, raffles and a fair to raise enough money so that children could attend the occasion for free.

A cast from The Panto Bus company performed the festive favourite to an audience of 80 adults and dozens of children on Sunday afternoon.

The popular tale follows Dick Whittington as he arrives in London Town to seek his fortune with only his cat for company, only to be whisked away to far off lands on a merchant ship bound for Morocco.

A spokesman for the church said: “Entrance to the event was totally free and was aimed at the children of the parish, some of whom would not normally have the opportunity to see a pantomime at Christmas.

“The audience joined in the pantomime spirit, hissing the villain King Rat and cheering the heroes Dick Whittington and Tommy the cat, in all the appropriate places.

“Judging from the noise that was generated, I am sure that both children and adults, enjoyed the performance.”

The performance started at 1.30pm, and consisted of two halves of 45 minutes each, with a short intermission in between.

As ever it had all the essential elements of a traditional family panto: a young hero in Dick Whittington, a comedy side kick in Idle Jack, a Pantomime Dame in Dame Dotty, a larger than life baddie in King Rat and a pair of daft sailors Captain and Scupper.

At the end of the show, the cast posed for photographs with the visiting children.

Church warden Kirsten MacArthur said: “We had to raise £870 for the pantomime to be performed by The Panto Bus Company and for the costs for printing the posters and leaflets.

“To fund the event, we held a monthly café and raffle, we received £100 from Cllr Catherine Preston and raised money on the day.

“A member of the congregation also very kindly said they would donate if we had any shortfall which enabled us to book the pantomime and get our fundraising off the ground.”

Refreshments were available to purchase prior to the performance and during the intermission. A raffle and tombola were also held.

Following its success, the congregation at the Parish Church of St Mary is already planning its next festive event. The production of Cinderella has been provisionally booked for next December, and the people of Radcliffe have been asked to support the event.

Again, the church hopes to fundraise throughout 2019 so the performance can be put on free of charge.

A Saturday Café will continue to take place on the second Saturday of each month.

Any additional funds raised this year will be put towards next year’s pantomime.