Harrogate Theatre's appeal hits £18,000 mark in fight to survive

In accordance with Government advice, Harrogate Theatre took the decision to close its doors last month and cancel or postpone all shows until social distancing rules are lifted.

Although the arts charity's fundraising campaign has received a positive response from the Harrogate public with nearly £20,000 contributed in less than a month, it is still way short of what is required to ensure the Victorian grade II listed building reopens later in the year.

Harrogate Theatre's chief executive, David Bown, who co-writes the theatre's award-winning panto every year, said it was essential the public and businesses continued to back the theatre's appeal each and every week during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Mr Bown said: "For the time being, our doors remain closed.

"Naturally this means our ticket sales are very much down – by around £100,000 on the same period last year.

"This stall in cash flow leaves us in an on going predicament, and the longer it continues the higher the risk we face."

First opened in 1900, the hugely popular theatre prospers through its own hard-earned success rather than receiving grants, supporting an untold number of local arts groups, as well as attracting thousands of famous stars to Harrogate over the years.

In fact, less than 7% of Harrogate Theatre's annual income comes from public funding.

Rachel Auty, the theatre's head of communications, said: "We had a whopping start. So far the Emergency Appeal has generated 70 new members and 445 donations - totalling £18,200.

"We are incredibly thankful to everyone who has supported to date.

"But support is waning as we would expect in the current situation. It's going to be a tough one. We will keep going for as long as we can."

Harrogate Theatre will remain closed until at least May 1 - to be reviewed again nearer the time depending on the coronavirus situation.

At the moment, Harrogate Theatre staff are still remote working where possible.

Police out in force in North Yorkshire to prevent Easter 'picnicing' and seaside trips

Linzi Tate, the theatre's sales and campaigns manager said: "We’ve been closed for nearly four weeks now and raised just over £18,000 for the Emergency Appeal.

"We’ve also achieved a headline sponsorship deal for the Harrogate Comedy Festival of £10,000 from VetDentist.co.uk.

"But there's still a lot of work to do. "

With no date yet in sight for relaxing the social distancing rules, Harrogate Theatre's financial predicament is growing by the day.

Even when life starts to return to normal, there might be some nervousness around social distancing and it might take some time encourage people to come back to the theatre.

Saving Harrogate Theatre: How the public and businesses can help

1. Make a donation

People can do this online via the theatre's website at www.https://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk or call 01423 502116 between 10am-5pm, Monday to Friday.

2. Buy tickets in advance for Harrogate Theatre's autumn/ winter shows

our third season of HT Rep in September, the 12th annual Harrogate Comedy Festival in October, and our award-winning pantomime is Cinderella for 2020.

3. Join Harrogate Theatre's White Rose membership scheme

From just £30 you can join Harrogate Theatre's exclusive pre-sales club and enjoy a range of other perks.

4. If we have to cancel or rearrange shows, please consider donating your ticket fee (or part of it)

The notification email you will receive will make it easy for you to choose which option you would like to take.

5 Sponsor future big shows now

Headline sponsorship slots are available for flagship shows later in the year.

£300,000 to create Harrogate's first community-owned woodland

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you