Malvern Theatres joins nationwide campaign, backed by Jude Law, to save venues - The Malvern Observer

Malvern Theatres joins nationwide campaign, backed by Jude Law, to save venues

Malvern Editorial 26th Sep, 2020   0

MALVERN Theatres has joined a national campaign to prevent venues up and down the country from closing.

The #SaveOurTheatres drive has seen Crowdfunder.co.uk partner with the Theatres Trust.

Almost £500,000 has already been raised by theatres using the platform during lockdown from more than 7,450 supporters.

This sparked the creation of a nationwide campaign which launched on September 8 with theatre fund-raising pages going live up and down the country.




Theatres across the United Kingdom, large and small, are uniting in this nationwide campaign to fight to #SaveOurTheatres.

The campaign has also already garnered celebrity support from the acclaimed actor and Theatres Trust Ambassador, Jude Law.


It has been launched to highlight the plight of theatres which are often at the heart of their community and places where people come together to be inspired and entertained.

Theatres are where many famous actors learn their craft and thousands of others learn valuable skills.

There is a fear many of these theatres could be lost forever after losing their main source of income disappear in an instant when they closed in March in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Six months later, theatres still don’t know when they will be able to reopen fully.

A decision won’t be made until November at the earliest – too late for most to put on their annual pantomime, which often provides the income to support the theatre for the rest of the year.

This ongoing uncertainty puts theatres in a perilous situation. The Government’s bailout is spread across all cultural organisations and is not enough to save all of the UK’s theatres.

Jude Law, actor and Theatres Trust Ambassador is backing the campaign.

He said: “Growing up I was fortunate to be taken to theatres regularly and this was where my love of acting first began.

“To this day nothing beats the magic of live performance and the connection between audience and performer.

“We are lucky to have so many amazing theatres, from historic playhouses like Theatre Royal Margate to groundbreaking community spaces like Greenwich to intimate pub theatres like Hampstead’s Pentameters.

“But coronavirus has simply devastated our theatre sector. Communities across the UK are in real danger of losing their theatres forever and we risk losing a precious part of national culture and heritage.

“Theatres are a vital community hub that bring joy to millions of people each year and we must try and save these theatres for generations to come.

“As a Theatres Trust Ambassador, I’m delighted to support the Save Our Theatres campaign, which is raising valuable funds to support theatres throughout the country.

“Please do give whatever you can to support this campaign.”

Rob Love, CEO Crowdfunder said: “Theatres and the arts industry have been hugely impacted over the last six months.

“We are proud to be partnering with the Theatres Trust to help raise vital funds for theatres across the country, we have waived all of our fees so all money raised will go direct to the theatres.

“Although lockdown is lifting we are still a long way from business as usual. This has been an exceptionally hard time for everyone, and we must stick together and do what we can to support theatres as we come out of this period and move forward – the show must go on!”

Jon Morgan, Director at Theatres Trust stated: “Every day theatres are facing the tough decision to make staff redundant and to close their doors until next year.

“And there is a real risk that those closures could be permanent.

“Without urgent support, we could lose many of our nation’s amazing theatres.

“Please help us to make sure our theatres survive this crisis and will be there to be enjoyed by future generations.”

People can head to the Malvern Theatres campaign page at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/savemalverntheatres to show their support.

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