Our season began with an Open Evening for Friends of FLT to show our appreciation for their support. We invited them for drinks and refreshments and gave readings about our past history. They were shown around the backstage areas not usually seen by the public and they were impressed with our recent refurbishments to wardrobe, greenroom and dressing rooms. The evening generated considerable interest and will be a regular event in the future. Our Secretary had a serious fall in November and a broken femur put her out of action. Her enforced absence left a big gap in the smooth running of theatre affairs - which the Committee tried to plug with a variety of contingency plans. It became apparent that, in addition to our Minute Secretary, an assistant was necessary to take over part of her work; we realise how much time and dedication she has given to the group over many years.

We continue to fund-raise and 'wave the flag' and to this end we were involved with the Formby village Dickensian Day in December. We ran stalls with books and bric-a-brac, a tombola and a quiz. We also staged a short original play written by a member complete with set, props and period costume; this was later taken to the local Leonard Cheshire Home. We were once again invited to read seasonal stories and poems on BBC Radio Merseyside and the programme went out on Christmas day.

Plans were approved for an extension to our Bar/Lounge area specifically to include a toilet for the disabled; it will also give us another space for meeting, social events and extra rehearsals. Work commenced on this during the summer holidays of 2003 and nears completion - we lack only the carpet! When we applied to renew our Theatre Licence the local authority 'in accordance with the Theatres Act 1968' required for the first time a copy of an Electrical Safety Certificate. The inspection cost over £1,000 and work to be carried out cost over £3,000 - and this had to be done before we could start work on the extension!