Vital projects funded in 12 community theatres

We have awarded a total of £80,000 in grants to 12 community theatres in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland through our Small Grants Programme with The Linbury Trust.

Amongst the recipients in this round are several theatres who work with communities that would otherwise have limited access to the arts, whether they serve some of the UK’s most disadvantaged communities; work specifically with children and young people or are based in rural areas. These include Abbey Theatre Club in Arbroath; Ardhowen Theatre in Enniskillen; Ark in Cliftonville West, Margate; CYTO at The Shoestring in Croydon; Junction in Goole; Louth Riverhead Theatre in rural Lincolnshire Theatre; Lyra Artspace in Greater Craigmillar on the outskirts of Edinburgh and Theatre@41 in one of York’s most disadvantaged wards. Projects supported include reconfiguring spaces to provide better facilities, upgrading to energy efficient LEDs and replacing outdated stage equipment.

Lancaster’s theatres The Dukes and Lancaster Grand have both been awarded grants for new accessible technology that will increase the number and range of performances they can offer to d/Deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing audiences. The Dukes will invest in a WatchWord closed-captioning system and two pairs of augmented reality glasses, while Lancaster Grand will upgrade its hearing support system to an Auri assistive listening system.

The final grants go to Ayr Gaiety Theatre and Rondo Theatre in Bath, both to upgrade their heating to smart systems so they are only heating the areas that are in use, saving the theatres money and reducing their energy consumption.

Download the full press release.

The next round of the Small Grants Programme is currently open for applications. Find out more about the scheme.

Photo credit: CYTO at The Shoestring by Leon Bach