ALL WORK by a unique theatre company for disabled people in West Devon has been suspended because of a funding crisis.

Despite desperate efforts to keep the Get Changed Theatre Company together, funding levels had dropped too low to continue, said co-ordinator for the company Vicky Hooper.

Hopes were pinned on an application to Comic Relief, which has supported Get Changed in the past, but this has failed, delivering a final blow to the group.

Get Changed was started seven years ago and was designed to meet the needs of disabled people who wanted to develop skills in drama and share them with a variety of people. They wanted to express themselves through performance, devising and touring original productions.

Weekly sessions had taken place in Tavistock, drawing people from the Okehampton, Tavistock and Plymouth areas, and an annual show was taken to hundreds of people around the South West.

?Get Changed performed in art centres, theatre schools and colleges and was never afraid to stimulate and raise issues and make its audiences think,? said Vicky. ?Not surprisingly, we have seen our following steadily increase as has the number of performers and many more disabled people were hoping to join in.?

Vicky added that all the members were bitterly disappointed: ?We don?t need a lot of money, but we can?t survive without it and the income we generate through performance is limited.?

Get Changed has officially frozen all activities to allow the management team a little time to make one last-ditch attempt to see if it can refloat the company.