QUESTION ONE: Which organisation has since 1968 provided a vital service for young people in the often maligned area of East Oxford, introducing them to the theatre and the arts, providing after-school interests that have fought boredom and kept hundreds out of trouble by pointing them in the right direction?

QUESTION TWO: Which organisation is faced with losing £68,000 a year if Oxfordshire County Council goes ahead with its plans to cut support as it tries to balance the books for the year ahead?

The answer to both is the Pegasus Theatre in Magdalen Road.

Usually Cabbages & Kings wouldn’t risk trying to influence the powers at County Hall.

It prefers to observe the wonderful world and its lovable foibles. But with the deadline for consultation looming this weekend I felt we had to.

The truth is that the Pegasus Theatre is too great a treasure – yes, treasure – to either lose or have its influence, role and value reduced.

Ask general manager Kate Whiting what the reaction has been from supporters and companies who love to perform at the Pegasus.

Speak to parents who have seen their children develop into fine young people who are a credit to their family and the city and who might otherwise have been in danger of going off the rails.

Speak to Gill Jaggers, for more than 20 years a devoted worker at the theatre and its head of marketing. She will tell how her children grew up with the Pegasus and, like many more, benefited from what it offered.

IF figures mean anything, consider those from the 2014-15 programme where 536 children and young people were involved in five productions, 1,493 took part in outreach projects, and the help given to 36 youngsters who were hovering on the edge of exclusion from school.

This just the tip off the iceberg.

If the county were obliged to directly take on the tasks that Pegasus provides, it would cost more than £68,000.

The truth is the county is getting a diamond service at a cut glass price.

Many people have already responded during the consultation period and I hope those who are still pondering will lodge their support before the deadline.

They might also consider supporting events and lending a hand where their talents could be used.

We all know economies have to be made at County Hall but at the risk of being accused of spouting platitudes, I ask them not to throw out the baby with the bath water or to cut off their own nose to spite their faces. Please think again.

Meanwhile I’m looking forward to the production of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol that starts next Friday.