NextBackThe Palace Theatre was refurbished by the Redditch Development Corporation and given to the town as a parting gift. In later life I became loosely involved with helping the Redditch Rats, (Redditch Amateur Theatre Society). This was a local amateur Theatre group who put on a couple of productions each year. I enjoyed their shows and also the parties after the shows. There were some really nice characters who became friends for many years.
As with all things the Palace Theatre needed continual refurbishment to keep it up to scratch. Ted Willis, the Manager at the time was in a quandary regarding the state of the seats. Seats cost money of which he had none. Whilst a member of Redditch Lions Club, I had had the same problem with providing one hundred dining seats for the WRVS in their new premises in Ludlow Road. I solved this by getting people to sponsor the seats. The manager jumped at this idea and thus he managed to get his new seats, albeit with a little hard effort. Later, the Lions Club then provided the new Loop System for the hard of hearing, which I believe is still in use today
