£25k funding boost for Alnwick Playhouse

Arts Council Catalyst funding is one of the measures the body is putting in place to help create a more sustainable and resilient art and culture sector.

The Playhouse will use this grant to help with fund-raising for the major rebuilding project announced in the Gazette before Christmas, for which it needs to raise almost £800,000 in total, alongside the county council’s £2.5million investment to create a community hub.This effort will now be greatly helped by a new website, staff and volunteer training, printed materials, updating the database and helping with fund-raising events.A spokeswoman for the arts venue said: “‘We are so pleased to receive this funding. We want to thank Arts Council England for its continued support.“Fund-raising is crucial for small arts charities like us and we work very hard to attract investment, but we can get easily overlooked for funding opportunities.“The success of this Catalyst funding is exceptionally well-timed and vital to allow us to raise our ability to fund-raise for the future of Alnwick Playhouse, onwards and upwards!”In total, 46 successful applicants from across the north were awarded between £10,000 and £30,000 last week via the Catalyst small grants programme.Elsewhere in Northumberland, there was £10,000 for Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, £19,477 for Blyth-based Headway Arts and £25,000 for The Maltings in Berwick.Sarah Maxfield, director north for Arts Council England, said: “I’m delighted that we have been able to fund 46 organisations across the north to strengthen their fund-raising capacity to attract more private giving.“The awards will support a range of activities such as recruiting fund-raising consultants, funding new websites to allow for increased online giving and fund-raising training for trustees and staff.”