Burnham-On-Sea’s Princess Theatre and Arts Centre has this week received a huge financial boost of more than £28,000.
The theatre, which is temporarily closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, has been awarded a grant from the Arts Council Emergency Response Fund.
The £28,649 grant, funded from National Lottery resources, means that The Princess Theatre now has a COVID-19 ‘lifeline’ that safeguards its future.
The Princess has been part of Burnham and Highbridge’s landscape since 1869, and has been open to the public for performances for over 150 years.
Since lockdown, staff at the Princess have been working hard to personally contact all customers, advising them of rescheduled dates and refunding tickets. This evolving situation could have seen the Theatre devastated as they were not eligible for the government’s business rate holiday or hospitality grants.
Business Development Officer Beccy Armory, pictured, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We are incredibly grateful to Arts Council England for this support. It is a real stamp of approval for the work we have been doing, the progress that has been made in my first six months, and our future business plan.”
“Our end of year accounts show that income was up and expenditure was down but the arrival of COVID-19 and necessary lockdown measures meant that overnight we lost 94% of our earned income.”
“For every £5 the theatre earns, £4.70 of that comes from our doors being open. We needed a rescue package to not only support the hard work the council has done for the theatre over the years but the new work that was already gathering momentum.”
“This funding not only covers some of our lost income to date but also some really exciting projects that will allow us to connect with our audiences whilst our doors are closed.”
“We cannot be complacent however; we are working on huge cost cutting measures to ensure that our subsidy is used wisely and the grant will only cover us for a short period.”
Of the current closure, Beccy adds: “From the start of lockdown it was my intention to never cancel. Our strategy has been very clear: We must reschedule; our community needs something to look forward to when we get back to the new normal.”
“Current evidence shows that the first thing we all want to do, is get out and spend time doing what we love with our nearest and dearest. As consumers we are overwhelmed with choices to entertain us online and it is incredible how so many performers have adapted to this medium. But nothing compares to seeing live entertainment and this is evident in how events and festivals for the future are already selling out.”
Cllr Louise Parkin, Chair of the Princess Management Committee, says: “It has been a huge effort to turn the Princess around this past year and to receive funding during these tough unprecedented times means that we can support our community with a continued cultural and creative economic offer for the future.”
