Organisers have hailed a Help For Heroes presentation event, where more than £2,000 was handed over to the charity, as a ‘wonderful’ and ‘emotional’ evening.

The evening was organised following the huge success of the Christmas Crackers Show held at the Athenaeum Theatre, in Warminster in December.

Sally Boyle, co-director of performance group Starry Eyes, said: “It was a lovely evening. We had Major David Bartholomew, the local co-ordinator for Wiltshire, come along to collect the cheque for £2,150.

“People were able to come along and see the performance again or for the first time on DVD.

“It was lovely to be able to sit back and relax and watch the performance instead of being behind the scenes. It was quite special really to see ourselves on the big screen.”

The evening also involved an ‘emotional farewell’ as the show’s producer Adrian Cunningham is leaving Warminster, where he has lived and worked for several years.

He said: “My wife, Elaine and I are moving to Paignton in Devon to be closer to my son and daughter-in-law and our grandchildren.

“I know we have lots of wonderful friends here but family are important to us.

“Sunday night was kind of emotional for me as I said goodbye to everybody, telling them where I was going and that I would miss them.

“I have made extremely good friends with Sally and Val from Starry Eyes. The people I have worked with are absolutely wonderful.”

Mrs Boyle added: “It was quite sad to say goodbye to Andrew as I have worked with him on this production and a previous one at Upton Scudamore Church.

“Andrew has been in Warminster for many years and has been involved in a lot of productions at the Athenaeum. He has put on some very successful plays and we have worked together on several productions.”

Mr Cunningham has said that once he is settled in Devon he is hoping to put on another production to raise money for Help For Heroes and people from both the Athenaeum and Starry Eyes are keen to get involved with it.