Theatres Trust has awarded vital funding to five more theatres. Each will receive £5,000 from the Trust’s UK Theatres Small Grants Scheme for projects that enhance accessibility, address urgent repairs, environmental improvements and expand facilities.
Accidental Theatre, housed in a former bank building in Belfast, will use Theatres Trust funding to install wheelchair accessible toilets on its first floor. This project comes soon after an accessible lift installation, part of a package of improvements informed by an access audit to ensure the venue is as inclusive as possible.
New automatic doors will improve the theatre-going experience for disabled patrons and wheelchair users at the Court Theatre run by Swindon Dance in the town’s former Town Hall. The project will replace faulty doors and make sure accessibility standards remain high after the Court Theatre’s recent accessibility-led auditorium refurbishment.
Theatres Trust small grants funding for Liverpool’s Unity Theatre, housed in a former synagogue, will finance access and repair work to its leaky roof, ensuring the longevity of this important community building.
Hulme’s Z-arts will be able to undertake a suite of works responding to the needs and requirements of users at the family-friendly arts hub. Theatres Trust funding will allow the venue to install an evacuation chair and defibrillator, as well as complete urgent repairs to its entrance stairs, improving the access and safety of its audiences. The award will also support an LED lighting upgrade front and back of house as the theatre works to make itself future-ready.
The Little Theatre Gateshead campaign to create a new rehearsal room to improve and expand facilities for its members, patrons and the local community will receive a boost with Theatres Trust funding. The improved provision will help protect future theatre use at this important community hub.
Jon Morgan, Director at the Theatres Trust said: “The high demand for this funding emphasises the challenges that smaller theatres throughout the UK face. We are delighted to be able to support theatres with projects that will protect them for the future, make the buildings accessible to audiences and continue to offer rich experiences for communities across the country.”
Sarah Miller, Director at Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation said: “It has never been more important to cherish and protect our regional theatres, which provide a vital cultural hub for many local communities. I am thrilled Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation funding can target these urgent repairs for theatres across the UK under the guidance of Theatres Trust expertise.”
