Cheltenham Playhouse
'£80k for 80 Years'
Essential fundraising campaign to celebrate 80 years of theatre at the Cheltenham Playhouse (1945-2025) and raise £80k to help secure the theatre and its future in both the short & long term.
Story
'£80k for 80 Years' Fundraiser
This year the Cheltenham Playhouse celebrates its 80th year. An amazing achievement for a space that receives no fixed funding. We would love nothing more than to celebrate another 80 years.
However this is a turbulent time in the arts & the pressure is on to keep our heads above water. The time is now that we must stress our need to survive, so that for another 80 years we can thrive as a centre for the arts in this wonderful community.
We have a master plan for long-term, but to do that we need to raise funds quickly in the short-term. We are aiming to raise £80k & beyond. Every single penny will go towards ensuring this vibrant, important theatre cannot only celebrate its past, but plan for its future.
About the Cheltenham Playhouse
The Cheltenham Playhouse is a unique and intimate 186-seat theatre, with stunning Regency architecture and a wide range of performances that often leave visitors with a remarkable experience.
As the Playhouse is also one of the very few independent venues in the county, we pride ourselves on being a down-to-earth and welcoming space to all. Whether you are a regular theatre enthusiast or trying your first live performance, the Cheltenham Playhouse is here for you.
Historically, the theatre has been a hidden gem in the town. In recent years the Playhouse has flourished and is rapidly becoming one of the most popular venues in the area. We're making big waves across the county with hundreds of performances each year and a forecast of over 50,000 annual visitors. Our events include Music 🎸, Drama 🎭, Film 🎞️, Comedy 🤣, Musicals 🎶, Pantomime ✨, workshops 🎨 and more!
To see our current upcoming events please visit our website.
Some of our recent feedback from visitors:
In almost fifty years of living in Cheltenham and surrounding areas, I have never visited the Playhouse before and I now have one question for myself "Why not"? Oh how I've missed out over the years...Right from the moment we walked through your doors, the experience was magical, your front of house staff were warm and welcoming, the facilities were amazing and the performance...Rest assured we will now become frequent visitors to Playhouse and have already started telling family and friends.
The Playhouse offers more variety of shows than any other venue in Cheltenham...Thank you for making the Playhouse one of the best live entertainment venues in Cheltenham and at prices one can afford....Thank you for everything you are doing.
An amazing theatre! We've seen many productions there and have loved every show.
The Playhouse has been a theatre since 1945, however, with the oldest parts of the building dating back to 1806, the Playhouse also has a fascinating heritage. The building has also been a salts laboratory, a swimming bath (which still exists under the auditorium, see below!), slipper baths, medical spa, a steam mill and bakery, an indoor cycling school, and much more!
To learn more about our remarkable history please visit our dedicated history website.
Why are we fundraising now?
These essential funds will help allow us to sustain day-to-day operations and rebuild a modest safety net that will then allow us to further develop our offering to the community, such as growing our Fringe Festival, maintaining the Grade-II listed venue, increasing the number of free community events and more. If you would like to donate to a specific cause, such as improving access or energy efficiency please do get in touch, however, our current priority is securing unrestricted income to support the charity across the board.
We believe the Playhouse has a fantastic future and will continue to grow with and for the community. However, the unfortunate timing of COVID, the increased cost of living, lack of national arts funding, all-time high energy prices, inflation and many other factors is a significant hurdle, but also highlights how valuable venues such as the Playhouse are.
This is our biggest fundraising, celebration and awareness campaign in years and we hope you will be able to support us.
How can I help?
- Donate to this fundraiser with a one-off or regular payment
- Purchase tickets for our shows
- Business sponsorship - want a dressing room/bar/rehearsal room named after your business? Get in touch board@cheltplayhouse.org.uk to discuss
- Legacy donations
- Donate at one of our card/cash donation points around the venue
- Donate to a specific cause. For example, you could pay for helping us move to LED lighting to save on energy costs and improve our sustainability or contribute to the costs of our What's On brochure and help spread the word of the Playhouse.
(Ways to support for free):
Spread the word about our theatre & this fundraiser such as sharing our posts on social media
Volunteer - we have a huge team of volunteers who play an essential role in our operations. For more info, involved@cheltplayhouse.org.uk
Fundraise for us, for example, you could put on a show, host a social event in our bar, or run a raffle and we may be able to support with the costs, such as offering space for free for theatre fundraising events. The possibilities are endless and we'd be happy to discuss ideas with you at fundraising@cheltplayhouse.org.uk
FAQ
Q - Do you get funding/grants, if so, why not?
A- We receive no regular funding or grants, aside from a proposed rent relief. Securing funding for the arts has become increasingly difficult due to a high volume of applicants and limited availability, making it highly competitive. Many applications, especially from places like Cheltenham, are unsuccessful due to perceptions of wealth, despite the area's diverse financial landscape.
Grants are time-consuming to apply for, with no guarantee of success, and often restrict funds to specific projects rather than covering core operations. While project-based grants are helpful, our main goal is to maintain our core activities, which will enable us to take on additional projects in the future.
This is why we are appealing to our community for support. We will continue to seek grants and explore other fundraising options.
Q - What about the building, is it maintained by an external body?
A - Currently we receive no support with the maintenance of the building and lease it from the council. It is a large Grade II Listed building dating back to 1806 so has significant maintenance costs and requirements. Historically the council have been supportive in assisting with larger projects such as repairs to our roof which has been vital and gratefully received; we hope that this much-needed support will continue.
Q - Don't you make lots of money from shows?
A - No, with the vast majority of our shows are from incoming companies/groups, rather than our own productions; we receive only around 20-30% of the ticket price and that's before things like licencing are deducted. It would be typical on a £20 ticket for us to only receive £4 to £6.
Q - Why don't you produce shows in-house then if you would keep more from ticket sales that way?
A - The primary answer is financial risk. We have a plan to begin this, but this is why we need to fundraise.
Current business supporters:
The following clients and companies (in alphabetical order) have generously pledged their support to this fundraiser or currently go above and beyond to support the wider charity:
Behind the Curtain Productions
Chapel Arts
Ghostlight Productions
Howlers Comedy Club
Grove Productions
Makiom
Matt Nolan Creative
Playhouse Theatre Company
Theatre Studio
University of Gloucestershire Performing Arts Department
Wyrley Music and Promotions
If you are a client or company that would like to discuss pledging support to us either with this campaign or more widely please email us at fundraising@cheltplayhouse.org.uk
Thank you for taking the time to read about our fundraiser, as always, we look forward to seeing you soon.