Young people with learning disabilities are to benefit from a £1.5m grant which will help transform a Newcastle theatre now celebrating what it calls "huge news".
Gosforth Civic Theatre, a charity-run arts venue, will be able to upgrade its facilities in a 'major renovation' thanks to the funding which also will enable it to work with more young people as well as the wider community. And, having been given the kick-start, work is already under way on the building which is set to reopen in two stages over this summer.
Disability arts charity Liberdade Community Development Trust, which runs the venue, welcomed the announcement of its award of a Youth Investment Fund grant which will pay for expansion and "huge" upgrades, it says, including improved access and even energy efficiency. A spokesman called it a "major investment", adding: "This is significant not just for Gosforth, Kenton, Fawdon and surrounding areas but for the region."
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Liberdade is out to raise expectations involving people with learning disabilities and it runs arts and wellbeing activities from its inclusive theatre space which are also offered to young people without additional needs. Money spent at the theatre's performances, music shows and events - and at the cafe it launched on its reopening from lockdown - help to sustain its work.
Involving both young people and adults with learning disabilities, the vibrant hub delivers training in performing arts, health and wellbeing, sport and employment skills. In more good news, the theatre's revamp project has also attracted a further £1m funding from Arts Council England, the Wolfson Foundation, the Foyle Foundation, the Clothworkers Foundation and the National Lottery Community Fund - with the combined boost now meaning it can fulfil its dreams, it says.
Rob Huggins, Liberdade's chief executive officer and founder, thanked everyone involved as well as the funders and said: “Gosforth Civic Theatre was created by our learning-disabled company members to provide other young people with the opportunities they’d had, and to provide a cultural building that brings everyone together. Our company members are the reason why this community has a theatre, and we hope that realisation helps to deliver our mission of raising everyone’s expectations about what people with learning disabilities can achieve."
One of the young people who is part of the Newcastle theatre said of its work: “It’s about wanting to give young people with learning disabilities a chance to shape people’s attitudes. Now we can do that.”
Liberdade is one of 43 organisations in the country to benefit from the first wave of Youth Investment Fund grants - part of the Government's aim to 'level-up' opportunities for young people aged around 11 to 18 - which were announced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the charity Social Investment Business.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said: “Every young person should be given the best possible start in life and we are investing more than £500m to transform youth services across the country." She added that the news of the first major beneficiaries - sharing a £300m pot - will "give thousands more youngsters access to vital services and new opportunities to support and boost their mental and physical wellbeing".
For information on how youth service projects can apply to the Youth Investment Fund see here. Applications are open until March 2024.
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