BARNARD Castle’s cash-strapped arts centre has received a £50,000 boost.
Trustees at The Witham have successfully bid for two grants – £46,500 from the Arts Council England and £4,500 from the County Durham Community Foundation.
Shelagh Avery, chairwoman of trustees, said the Arts Council money would be used to focus on the centre’s programme, particularly dance, movement and community events.
The community foundation cash will be used to fund business development consultancy work – most especially how to make better use of The Witham’s meeting rooms.
Ms Avery stressed that none of the money would be spent on recruiting additional members of staff.
“The Arts Council grant will be entirely focussed on the programme,” she said.
“The smaller grant will be used for a bit of consultancy. We need to make better use of the meeting rooms.
“How can we make those rooms work harder for us and how can we get better secondary spend.”
Ms Avery said ticket sales and fees would also be reviewed as part of the business development work.
“We are really pleased about these grants,” she said.
“Both come from organisations that have given us awards in the past and are an affirmation of the confidence they have in the improvements we have made at The Witham in the last year.
“This is a really positive development.”
She said the grants would help put the arts centre on a firmer footing going into the new financial year.
“They end the year with a really good outlook and will mean we end 2018/19 in the black and start the new year with money in the bank and plans coming to fruition,” added Ms Avery.
The Witham came close to closure last year when the true extent of its financial woes were revealed.
A public appeal was launched last August and raised £42,000 to stave off closure and a subsequent £60,000 hand-out from Durham County Council secured its immediate future while trustees reviewed all areas of operation.
In the coming weeks, The Witham will unveil its summer programme of events and shows and launch a new-look website with online payment facility.
