Fundraising

A charity’s campaign to raise money to pay for vulnerable and disadvantaged people to attend creative classes has hit its £12,00 target.

New Brewery Arts aid the money will be used to allow residents in Cirencester to access 1,200 free hours of creative workshops.

New Brewery Arts CEO Beth Alden said: “We would like to thank our amazing community for supporting our campaign not only through their kind donations but also their support and good wishes throughout the campaign. 

“From our years of running courses and workshops here in our studios, it is clear that making brings our students incredible health and wellbeing benefits. We are excited to give this experience to those in our community who most need it.

“But we are not stopping there. We will continue to collect donations for New Brewery Hearts so that we can continue to provide vulnerable and disadvantaged people in our community with access to creativity.”

An anonymous donor has pledged £100,000 towards saving a run-down theatre in Berkshire.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has said £300,000 is needed to buy the Novelle Theatre in Sunninghill and has given campaigners until October to raise the funds.

A group of campaigners, Save Novello Picture House, have been leading efforts to save the theatre. They hope to restore the building and link it with neighbouring Cordes Hall, under a single charity.

Campaign coordinator Alan Everett told the BBC the “very generous donation” is “the best start we could have hoped for”.

The 100-year theatre has been listed as an Asset of Community Value, meaning local groups are given first refusal before it can be put on the open market. If the required funds are not raised, the building will be marketed for commercial development.

An art gallery in Oxford has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £25,000 toward a £2m renovation.

The campaign by Modern Art Oxford, run on Art Fund's Art Happens platform, will support an overhaul of the Victorian building's ground and lower ground floors.

Plans for the gallery include revamping the entrance, creating a social area with a digital display, a new gallery for exhibitions featuring local artists, a dedicated studio space, and a new cafe.

Director Paul Hobson said the fundraiser would allow the venue to "fully equip and furnish" its public spaces for "the best possible welcome and creative offer for our diverse communities".

Rewards for donors include artist-designed merchandise, a private art-making workshop and a contemporary art tour in London with Hobson.

A museum in Wales has launched a public appeal to help it remain open in the face of soaring energy bills.

Llandudno Museum says its costs have quadrupled, and the grant funding it receives does not cover the rise.

"It is definitely a threat because at the moment our energy bills are in the region of £35,000 a year, which is astronomic," Director Dawn Lancaster told ITV News

"We can't turn everything off because we have to have stable conditions to maintain the artefacts in the building."

The museum reopened in 2022 after a £1.6m redevelopment scheme partly funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, with the remainder of the money coming mostly in grants from other charitable bodies, and an annual grant from Llandudno Town Council.

It says it needs to raise £80,000 by October.
 

A UK-wide campaign designed to highlight the impact culture and heritage organisations make within their communities in the run-up to the next general election will launch in May.

Established by the Cultural Philanthropy Foundation, the 'Culture Makes…' campaign intends to make the case for culture and as a human right "which urgently needs investment".

More than 40 organisations including Bristol Old Vic, Northern Ballet, and the Southbank Centre have been confirmed as campaign "partners" with the Cultural Philanthropy Foundation calling for all cultural organisations in the UK to join.

Caroline McCormick, Chair of the Cultural Philanthropy Foundation, said: “Cultural and heritage organisations have long wrestled with how to communicate the value and impact of their work. 

"Culture Makes… comes at a critical time enabling us to come together through a clear and simple set of linguistic tools which will allow us to celebrate and raise awareness of the impact of the sector as a whole and the individual contributions each organisation makes with government and policy makers, funders, and our audiences. 

"Our aim is to build an overwhelmingly powerful sector voice that cannot be ignored."