A night with Travolta under the stars makes a grand for charity

A homeless charity is £1,000 better off thanks to a successful open air cinema event organised by four enterprising students from the University of Northampton.

All 200 tickets for Cinema Under The Stars evening sold out within a fortnight, with film-lovers keen to guarantee their spot at the open-air showing of 1978 classic flick Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

The event, which was held in the stunning grounds of Highgate House, in Creaton, on Friday 13 May, was organised by Events Management third years Katie Gale, Chloe Russell Flint, Sapphire Goody and Sarah Spencer.

The students chose to donate the £1,000 proceeds from the event to the Hope Centre, a Northampton-based charity for the homeless, vulnerable and disadvantaged.

Katie said: “Although the event was hard work, I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the organisation and was lucky to have such a great team along with a supportive tutor.

“Overall, I am extremely overwhelmed by how successful the event was and am so thankful to everyone that attended to help support and donate to such a great cause.”

Claire Leer, Senior Lecturer in Events Management at the University, said: “This is the first time a group of final year students on the course have organised an outdoor cinema event.

“It was a very popular event and a fantastic night in a beautiful setting. I’m very proud of what the students achieved.”

The students were supported by a group of volunteers, which they had to source themselves, and would like to thank Highgate House, Northampton Entertainment and photographer Stu Haines from SDS DVD.

The University enjoys close links with the Hope Centre – in November, Vice Chancellor, Professor Nick Petford, was appointed a patron of the charity in recognition of the relationship.

Katie, Chloe and Sarah are pictured soaking up the atmosphere on the night.