BLOC show pays it forward

AS part of opening night celebrations for BLOC Music Theatre’s production of Mamma Mia in May, the performance troop teamed up with the local branch of The Order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller for a fundraiser.

Now the fruits of that effort have come to the fore, with a cheque for $2500 recently passed onto Ballarat Hospice Care.

Five dollars from every ticket sold went towards the donation and giving a portion of opening night takings to community organisations and charities is something BLOC has been doing for over 50 years.

Member of The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Chevalier Peter Morey, said the connections between BLOC, the hospice and his organisation were strong.

“Together with BLOC Music Theatre, we feel privileged to support the work of Hospice in our community,” he said.

“There is such a strong link between the Knights Hospitaller who cared for crusaders arriving in Jerusalem after many months of travel through often hostile territory, at their hospice built over the tomb of St. John, almost a thousand years ago, and the great comfort of home-based community palliative care offered by Ballarat Hospice Care, today.”