Insolvency and a programme of mass redundancies have been avoided at Eden Court theatre in Inverness with “lifeline” funding of £800,000 from the Scottish Government, in addition to the £1.25m in emergency grants it received last year.
The latest award from the Scottish Government has been made in recognition of the way it reinvented itself in response to the pandemic. The venue opened its doors as the region's main humanitarian aid centre during the first lockdown, operating as a distribution centre for food parcels for people who were shielding.
CEO James Mackenzie-Blackman described the award as "investment in our future". Writing about the theatre's programming, he said: "We have reflected that the pandemic has propelled this work in a slightly new direction that excites us, and points to a potential future strand to the artistic vision for our organisation."