Tyne Theatre & Opera House receive crucial funding from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund

 
The Tyne Theatre and Opera House have announced that they will receive £210,000, the full amount of funding that they had applied for, from the Government & Arts Council England’s ‘Culture Recovery Fund’. The Government’s unprecedented £1.57bn investment was put in place to see that cultural organisations across the UK could weather the storm of coronavirus and come back stronger.

The Grade 1 listed theatre, which recently opened to audiences for its first shows since March, have suffered a devastating loss of income since Covid-19 restrictions have come into place. Over the months since lockdown started, the venue has offered live-streamed shows, their first socially distanced shows, an online theatre tour and an ongoing Crowdfunder campaign – all of which have helped generate support for the theatre through these difficult months. 

With the furlough scheme soon coming to an end, and also the question of whether the theatre could operate at all over the Autumn/Winter season, this funding has supplied a crucial lifeline to the 153 year old theatre, which was at risk of permanent closure. 

In a statement, the Tyne Theatre and Opera House have said “The money we’ve been granted will help us develop a business plan for our future in this new landscape, continue with work on making our venue Covid-Secure for staff and audiences, secure the jobs of our dedicated team and ensure that we can still be here for our local community and #HereForCulture.
News of this funding isn’t a happy ending for us, it’s just the beginning – we now begin crucial work, preparing for the future. We will continue to thrive, only with your support, which has allowed us to make it this far.”

Tyne Theatre and Opera House, which earlier this year celebrated five years of operating as an independent venue, is known for providing some of the best comedy, music, theatre and variety entertainment in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Theatre audiences were happy to share their joy over the funding news on Facebook, with Tyne Theatre fans sharing comments such as: “So pleased for you, glad you are safe for a little longer until the curtain is back to going up as normal”, “My favourite place in the world just received funding! Happy Monday everyone”, “Best Monday in a long time! Congratulations and well done everyone” and many more…

Read the theatre’s full statement regarding the Culture Recovery Fund: http://bit.ly/TTfunding 

More information on how to support the theatre at: https://tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk/support-us/