Cost-of-living crisis

An independent theatre in Newcastle-upon-Tyne has launched a Crowdfunder appeal to cover costs associated with becoming a warm space for people in the city.

Alphabetti Theatre had been open since mid-October from 11am to 11pm, Tuesday to Saturday, but is currently closed for essential maintenance. It plans to reopen as a warm space on 31 January.

The theatre's fundraising campaign has an overall target of £15,000. A portion of the money will be spent on the theatre's utilities bill, which has increased by 248%.

A statement on Crowdfunder said: "We are providing a warm, welcoming space where there isn’t pressure to spend money. A much-needed space in a cold city like ours but also an enjoyable space – a social and community driven space with art and creativity at its core.

"We continue to offer high quality socioeconomically accessible art for all. And we’ll continue to help artists survive financially, advocating to use creativity to tell the stories that need to be heard in interesting and entertaining ways."

The fundraising campaign has been offered match funding from the Co-op Warm Spaces Funding Boost, designed to support organisations supporting their local communities through rising costs this winter.

Proposed cuts to council funding for Derby’s museums could result in reduced hours or closures, leaders of the charitable trust running them have warned.

Derby City Council told Derby Museums, which runs several of the city’s museums, that its grant is set to decrease from £710,000 to £639,000 from April this year.

“Due to a perfect storm of rising costs and inflation, the council has to make an unprecedented level of savings to balance its budget”, a council spokesperson said, adding that all services were being asked to reduce their budgets by 10%.

In an open letter, Derby Museums' Executive Director Tony Butler warned that the proposed cuts could have a “devastating effect” at a time when museums’ own costs were spiralling.

The trust currently runs the city's museum and art gallery in The Strand, as well as the Museum of Making, and Pickford's House.

“The proposed cuts will be compounded by the challenging financial climate,” he said.

“High inflation has increased our costs. We currently spend £160,000 a year on gas and electricity and that could double… The current financial model leaves little headroom and as things stand, I fear we may run out of road.”

He added that the cuts could force museums to take measures including site closures, reductions in opening hours and staffing and the introduction of admissions charges.