Community Theatre

Debate between Lisa Smart and Jess Brown-Fuller

Wednesday 12th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)]

As my hon. Friend knows, I am a keen supporter of the arts, especially community theatres. Will she join me in congratulating Chichester Community Development Trust, which has managed to secure national lottery funding to redevelop part of the former hospital at Graylingwell and create a community hub that will be used as a rehearsal space for creatives and community theatres in the Chichester area? Does she also agree that sustainable funding, once the creative hub is up and running, will be key to ensuring that it is there for future generations?

[Lisa Smart]

I will certainly join my hon. Friend in congratulating the team in her constituency. Having participated in some bids for lottery funding, I know it is not always an easy process, so they have done very well to be successful. Community hubs are also so much more than just a rehearsal space. They bring light, laughter and so much warmth to a community, so I absolutely agree with her.

All hon. Members will know that theatres are facing higher running costs. If we think about the impact of higher energy bills on households, the cost of heating a very large, high-ceilinged space is even greater. Energy bills are increasing, and rises in wages and national insurance for staff mean that there is less and less money available to spend on improving things around the theatre. I spoke to people from NK Theatre Arts and they summarised my point perfectly:

“Although it’s great to put on a brilliant show, it isn’t really about the shows and the events. It is all about the social benefits it brings to the children, young people and adults, and all of our partners who use The Forum Theatre, but it needs investment.”

That investment would be its lifeline.

I appeal to the Minister and the Government to take action to support councils to maintain and renovate cultural buildings such as community theatres. The previous Government provided schools and colleges with the funding that they needed, more or less, to permanently remove the RAAC. Considering the hugely important service that our cultural buildings provide and the amount they save the broader public purse, it makes sense for the Government to provide similar funding to remove RAAC from community theatres across the UK.

Romiley Forum is, of course, not the only theatre in Hazel Grove. We also boast the Carver in Marple, which, while relying solely on volunteers, has been entertaining my community since 1906, and is where I have enjoyed the unforgettable Marple gang show. I should not forget Romiley Little Theatre, which is another charity that has been part of Stockport’s cultural landscape for over 70 years.

Without our community theatres, the immensely valuable services that organisations such as NK Theatre Arts provide to young people would not be able to exist. The workshops and experiences offered by the theatre company not only provide accessible ways to get involved in the arts, but help keep young people off the streets and involved in their local communities. Any funding for community theatre would be an investment in our young people. We would be investing in our local communities and in the UK’s proud and storied cultural heritage, providing opportunities for the many extraordinarily talented young people in our constituencies who may not otherwise be able to get involved with their passions.

I ask the Government to support community theatre and treat them as assets that bring money into our communities while saving money from the public purse, whether we are talking about CAMHS for young people living with anxiety, or day centres or other activities for those with learning disabilities. I also ask the Government to make funding available for capital repairs for theatres like the Forum in Romiley, as the Department for Education did for schools and colleges, to give a secure future to these vital community assets. Although I am aware that this might not be in the Minister’s gift alone, I also ask for local government to be given clarity over its long-term funding, so that we do not lose the local connection to the arts that so many of us cherish.