Volunteers Week 2025: Meet Derek

Derek in the Orchestra pit for the 2025 Pantomime “Dick Whittingon”

My name is Derek (though most of my friends call me Dez), I’ve volunteered at Louth Playgoers for over 15 years now.

I was a Theatre kid - performing in shows throughout my teens, but took a long break after leaving home and traveling. Several years after moving to Louth I came to an open day at the Theatre and was blown away at the quality of the facilities. I put forward my contact details and said I’d like to volunteer for sound and lighting and was met with a very warm welcome.

For anyone who is thinking about volunteering, I would encourage you to just reach out to the Theatre on our social media or pop in to the box office so you can take a look around - you’ll be amazed at how it all works and there truly is something for everybody to do.

The great thing about volunteering is that it really doesn’t matter if you have no experience at all - without exception every department in the Theatre can use more people and it’s a safe environment to learn and try new things without fear of being judged.

Over the years I have learnt so much, made lifelong friends and now I get to produce shows and concerts, play in the band, support with the website & marketing and occasionally perform on stage too.

As I mentioned before, the facilities at Louth are superb, so what I enjoy most is discovering new and exciting ways of pushing the boundaries and putting on the best performance. Theatre is no different to any other industry in that the technology is ever evolving and plays a huge part - we are so lucky to have the equipment and space we do at Louth Riverhead Theatre and a superb team of volunteers who get to use it.