Workers at Kilmarnock's Palace Theatre have raised more than £1400 for bowel cancer research from collections held after performances of their pantomime, Cinderella.
The theatre's administrative assistant, Alison Lochhead, died from the disease in February when her daughter, Zara, was just two.
Theatre manager, Janice Gilmour, said: "Alison was very bubbly and incredibly organised. She was always coming up with fresh ideas and had the personality to make them work. We miss her hugely."
Alison had worked at the theatre for four years. And in February, Alison's former amateur dramatics group, Loudoun Musical Society, of which she was a member for 20 years will stage a special tribute concert.
Called 'Musical Memory – an Evening for Alison', it will star her old friends from the society. Her Palace colleagues will also do a turn.
Actor Liam Dolan, who plays Buttons in Cinderella, will act as the show's host.
Alison, who starred in productions including South Pacific, was diagnosed with cancer just six months after giving birth to Zara.
Alison and her HR officer husband Ian, 45, of Kilmarnock, had longed for a child.
She had suffered four miscarriages and the couple had gone through three failed attempts at IVF at Glasgow's Royal Infirmary.
But it was on the fourth attempt, at a private hospital, that Zara was conceived.
And it was her birth that Alison's doctors said was probably the cause of her bowel problems.
She first complained something was wrong in summer 2008. But that December doctors sent her for tests at Crosshouse Hospital, and the couple were told the devastating news that she had cancer.
She had surgery and chemotherapy, but last year was told there was nothing more doctors could do and she died eight months later.
Alison's husband, Ian, said of the tribute concert: "I think it's good that Loudoun Musical Society and the theatre are getting together – it's a show purely for Alison's memory."
sarah.swain@ eveningtimes.co.uk
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