THE BORDERS is set to come alive with the sound of music as a youth theatre group has been given funds to help stage a production of the 1965 hit musical.

Hawick-based Act 1 Youth has been granted £3,000 from the town’s common good fund to help meet the cost of sound equipment, set construction and royalty payments.

The group, which recently put on a production of ‘Annie’, has a range of members from seven to 18-years-old, and will be bringing The Sound of Music to Hawick Town Hall in April.

Appearing at a meeting of the Hawick common good fund committee last Tuesday, Act 1 Youth organiser Debbie Lyons told councillors: “We started Act 1 in 2015 on the back of a donation given to us, and we’re very fortunate we’ve managed to keep on from there.

“We’ve done our utmost to raise as much as we could. Our application at this meeting is for a show which we’re going to do which will involve the community, whereas up until now we’ve just been doing kids shows.

“But what we thought we could do is change that to be more of a community show.

“The Sound of Music hasn’t been performed in Hawick since 1984, as the music has not been available to non-professional shows for 20 years.

“It’s quite a big production, it isn’t a small children’s show, it’s a proper show with children.

“We’d be very grateful for anything the common good fund gives us for the children and for the town.”

The theatre troupe is also planning to host coffee mornings, a race night, a beetle drive, raffles, and a Burns supper, from which the group expects to raise £1,000.

Act 1 Youth staged its first production in November 2016, with a performance of ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ at the Old Baths in Hawick. The group has also put on a production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’.

The application was warmly welcomed by Hawick and Hermitage councillor Watson McAteer, who said: “I have to tell you, Act 1 is fantastic. What an organisation, and they put something on for everybody.

“They do something in the town that matches the common good fund’s aims – what they do is for the benefit of Hawick.”

Fellow Hawick councillor Stuart Marshall echoed councillor McAteer’s sentiments: “I absolutely support this in its entirety. They fantastic and they do a great job.”

The Hawick common good fund voted unanimously to award £3,000 to Act 1 Youth theatre.