Harrow Arts Centre faced almost certain closure following council cuts, but a fresh vision and new governance under a charitable trust are securing its long-term future. Andrew Welch tells the story.
Andrzej Blonski Architects
Like many local authorities, Harrow Council has had to shoulder huge cuts from central government and is forced to make savings of £83m from 2014 to 2018. In the face of these cuts, culture and heritage services came under threat. The Council announced it would no longer subsidise provisions, including the main cultural hub Harrow Arts Centre (HAC), which received an annual subsidy of £500,000.
We have a responsibility to the community to ensure these services are protected in the long term
It was clear that a fresh vision would be needed. A feasibility study in October 2014 was led by Sandra Bruce-Gordon, then Interim Arts & Heritage Service Manager for Harrow Council. The study recognised that many of the facilities at HAC were not fit for purpose. It outlined a sustainable vision to regenerate the site and create new buildings as part of an improved offer to 200,000 local households.
While this seemed a tall order, it was based on a firm and promising foundation. HAC was already offering a successful mix of arts and entertainment and had strong levels of community participation and a well attended education programme. It had remarkable staff who had managed to carry on an extensive and high-calibre programme and, moreover, staff who could deliver within the existing limitations.
Exploring possibilities
As Harrow Council was open to exploring new models of governance, Sandra and I came together with other key stakeholders to explore possibilities. We felt it was important to bring together individuals with a local connection and proven experience in the arts sector. This resulted in the formation of the charitable trust, Cultura London in August 2015.
Consultations with the community made it clear that they backed a business plan which prioritised income generation in order to improve the buildings and ensure the long-term future of the services. To deliver this we needed a governance structure that would allow the income generation capacity needed to cope with the loss of the £500,000 subsidy, while ensuring that HAC remained firmly embedded in the community.
Choice of a charity
The new charitable company was limited by guarantee, registered at Companies House, and registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. We felt that charities enjoy a wider credibility than a community interest company (CIC) because they must exclusively pursue non-commercial aims.
In our circumstances it was important that the public, staff and stakeholders could put their trust in the activities of a registered charity. We also felt that this could help towards building relationships with a wider pool of potential donors. What's more, charities enjoy a range of tax reliefs that are not available to CICs.
We are now in the process of finalising the transfer of Harrow’s culture and heritage services and beginning our journey into the future. We have taken pre-application advice on phase one of the regeneration – the building of a two-screen independent cinema and the first wave of renewed performance spaces.
This, and other new commercial facilities, such as cafes and bars, will help us start generating revenue for later phases of the project, which include creating new studio space, the building of a new 600-seat theatre and the regeneration of the Grade II listed Elliot Hall.
Long-term development
This kind of revivified commercial development will give us the resilience to support other elements of the centre’s offer, particularly our community-led and education services. We have a responsibility to the community to ensure these services are protected in the long term and we relish the opportunity to provide new impetus to ensure these facilities and the huge range of creative community activities that come with them do not disappear from the area.
The Cultura London model is, we believe, an adaptable model that could fulfil the needs of other local authorities that are equally determined to save their cultural assets for future generations.
Andrew Welch is Chair of the Board of Cultura London.
www.culturalondon.uk
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