Volunteers Week 2025: Meet Lyndsey

Lyndsey on the set of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

My name is Lyndsey, I’m 29 and I am a Backstage Volunteer, helping to paint and build the sets for Playgoers shows and being a part of the stage crew. Over the past year I have been getting more involved with set design and stage management too. Overall I have been volunteering with the Louth Playgoers for almost 3 years.

I’ve always been interested in theatre which has grown more and more since Covid. When I discovered you could volunteer at Louth Riverhead Theatre I was intrigued, I’d always wanted to learn more about backstage theatre so thought what better way to learn more than to be a part of it.

Before volunteering at the theatre, I hadn’t ever really thought about how many different departments, all made up of volunteers, it takes to put on a show. It really opened my eyes how this small community are continuously working to create the shows, it’s amazing to be a part of.

The best part of volunteering I enjoy is being part of a team and working together to create something that audiences can enjoy, it’s always rewarding to watch a show knowing you had a part in creating it. Volunteering at the theatre has given me a hobby I didn’t know I needed and I always look forward to spending my time there. It’s a great opportunity to meet new people and there’s always a great bunch of people to work with.

There’s always a show to work on and I love working on them all but musicals are my favourite so I especially look forward to those. This year it was more exciting being able to be involved with the set design process for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I really enjoyed researching for ideas of what other theatre societies had done and picking out what things in the films we could recreate for inside the chocolate factory part of the set. 

For me the main benefit has been confidence, I’ve always been a quiet person but the more I learn the more confident I get. It’s also been great to learn so much knowledge and new skills especially while building the sets, theatre specific skills and also general DIY.

For anyone out there thinking about volunteering at the theatre I would recommend it, I love volunteering, it gives me another focus away from work. I have an office job so I love being able to be hands on with something too. Come and give it a go, there’s no pressure for how much time you dedicate and if it’s not for you, that’s completely fine too, but you won’t know until you try. There are many different departments at the theatre that people can give their time to.