A TEAM from Bolton Octagon put on a great performance in the Greater Manchester 10k run.

Led by artistic director, Elizabeth Newman, the group of 27 pounded the pavements in Sunday’s scorching heat to raise £6,400 for the theatre’s £10 million redevelopment campaign.

Elizabeth said: “It was a massive challenge to run the 10k for the Octagon Theatre Reimagined project, to raise money and raise awareness about why the project is so important. Thank you to everyone who took part, everyone who came to support and everyone who helped organise – everyone did brilliantly!”

It was a particularly significant for Elizabeth who was told by doctors at the age of 18 that she would never be able to walk again due to a neurological condition.

It is her experience of spending long periods in a wheelchair that helped inspire the Reimagined campaign.

She said: “We need to make the theatre more accessible for participants, audiences and artists so we are redeveloping the building. At the moment, if you are a wheelchair user, there are lots of places you can’t get to, which can’t carry on.

“Hopefully our efforts will take us one step closer to our fundraising target and our dream of reimagining the theatre.”

Joining Elizabeth on the run were Octagon artists, board members, supporters, participants, volunteers and staff members old and new.

Other volunteers include students and staff from the University of Bolton and parents of Octagon youth theatre members.

If you would like to make a donation to the fundraising team visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/TeamOctagon10k

To find out more about how you can help raise funds for the Octagon’s redevelopment, get in touch with the Development team on reimagined@octagonbolton.co.uk or visit octagonbolton.co.uk