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Unity Theatre awarded
£133,900 from Arts Council England in Catalyst Evolve Funding
UNITY Theatre is delighted to announce
that it has been awarded a Catalyst Evolve grant of up to £133,900 from Arts
Council England towards a £230k creative and organisational development
programme. The award will enable the Liverpool theatre to deliver an ambitious
and exciting creative programme over and above its existing work: including new
commissions, a Digital Artist in Residency programme, support for producers and
the wider creative community and a series of Ideas Labs.
Critically, the award will also enable the theatre to test and develop a range
of new methods of income generation, building on its recent past experience of
fundraising for the capital programme. This will include establishing new
corporate relationship, a re-launched regular giving programme and increased
work with trusts and foundations. It will continue to help bring fundraising
into the heart of the organisation.
The award is having an immediate impact on the Unity's work. Under the Ideas Lab
strand, the first 2 events have been announced. In August the theatre will be
working with Annette Mees, one of the WIRED UK Creative Fellows to deliver one
of five nationwide Future Assemblies which will bring together young people and
over 65s to uncover visions of possible futures that can inspire us all.
Then in September we will be working with the hub to deliver a 3 day lab called
HACKstage where technologists, technicians and creatives are invited to come
together to explore how digital technology can open up new forms of interaction
in the theatrical / digital space. Over those 3 days of intensive sharing,
making and testing, ideas will be shared, teams will form around them, and these
ideas will be developed into (paper) prototypes.
Chair of Unity Theatre, Chris Bliss said:- 'This is a really exciting
investment in Unity Theatre by Arts Council England, which is being made at a
critical time. This will enable us to deliver more programme wise, with a wider
impact, but it will also help embed fundraising into the heart of the
organisation. It will allow us to develop our recent success in individual donor
fundraising, it will help us continue to develop our relationship with trusts
and foundations and I'm particularly keen to see how it can support the
development of new relationships between Unity and the private sector. With
every pound raised for the creative programme being matched through the Catalyst
Evolve investment new donors will have an even greater impact on our
organisation' |
