Staff from a children's theatre charity dressed up to receive their share of a £4,000 funding boost from a restaurant chain last week.

Charlie Shakespeare, who is the Colour House Theatre's manager, donned a gold waistcoat and ruffles to meet representatives from Bella Italia in Colliers Wood.

The company handed over £4,000 to the theatre and Merton Mencap from proceeds taken the week before the branch opened in the Tandem Centre in February.

Guests, friends and family of staff acted as guinea pigs for the restaurant in the days before the grand opening.

Contributions for their drinks and items from the grill were donated to the charities on Monday, March 21.

Venetia Barton, fundraising manager at Merton Mencap said: “We are both honoured and delighted to have the support of Bella Italia who have been incredibly generous, as have their customers.

"We look forward to getting lots of great advice from the team at Bella Italia to keep improving the way we run our cafe on The Broadway. We want to be the best.”