Gavin And Stacey star says script raising £30,000 for charity is ‘extraordinary’

Gavin And Stacey star Robert Wilfort has said his script for Gavin And Stacey: The Finale raising more than £30,000 for charity is “quite extraordinary”, adding that it shows “how much fans love the show”.

The 47-year-old, who plays Jason West, Stacey Shipman’s brother in the series, has donated the script – which has currently raised a total of £31,285 – to inclusive theatre company Theatre Shed, which provides workshops in Chesham and Amersham.

Speaking about why he chose to make the donation, the Welsh actor told the PA news agency: “So we were filming on the special, the finale episode, and lots of people were getting various different things signed for charities, pictures and things, and I thought a signed script might be great.

“I thought that might really capture people’s imagination, so it’s signed by all of the main cast and the director, and I decided to give it to Theatre Shed, because they are a charity I’ve had a long association with, based locally near me, and they’re just the most amazing charity.

“I’ve always been a big admirer of their work, and think they do a fantastic job, so I thought I would donate it to them.”

The charity is inviting fans of the BBC sitcom to give a £5 donation for a raffle ticket in order to be in with a chance of winning the script, with entries closing on January 13.

Wilfort added: “We’ve got just under a week, and it’s doing really, really well, it’s kind of surpassed everyone’s expectations.

“We’re currently standing at (more than) £31,000 which for a small charity is a really significant amount of money, and I think it just goes to show how popular the show has been.

“I think it’s overwhelmed all of us that were a part of it, I don’t think we knew, we knew people would like it, but I didn’t think of the levels it’s got to, it’s quite extraordinary, really.

“So it’s just a testament to how much the fans love the show, that people are buying tickets in their thousands, and hopefully we’re going to make a really nice sum of money for Theatre Shed.”

He described the Christmas Day episode, which saw Neil ‘Smithy’ Smith, played by co-writer James Corden, finally decide to marry Vanessa ‘Nessa’ Jenkins, played by fellow co-writer Ruth Jones, after aborting his wedding to Sonia (Laura Aikman) at the altar, as “a really great finish to the story”.

The actor added: “We all knew the script was brilliant, but you never can tell until the whole thing comes together what the reaction is going to be.

“But it seems both press and public have just completely loved it, and it’s so satisfying for all of us.

“We really wanted to give people a great ending to the show, and I just feel so, so lucky really, to be part of something that just brings joy to people, and to give people a really great happy feeling over Christmas is just fantastic.

“It feels a bit like coming back to the real world now, I took the Christmas tree down to the dump today, Christmas is done, and it feels like, back to the real world now.

“But I’m still getting messages all the time on Instagram and on various platforms, about people saying how much they loved it.”

Theatre Shed aims to help people of all ages and backgrounds get into acting and develop their talents in a nurturing and secure environment.