Horsecross, the organisation that runs Perth Theatre and Perth Concert Hall, has been adopted as a prestigious Foundation Funding client by the Scottish Arts Council following a major review of the arts in Scotland. These clients represent Scotland's flagship arts organisations with a distinctive and significantly unique role in the arts in Scotland.
This is the best possible outcome for us,
said Jane Spiers, chief executive, Horsecross. It means that we will receive funding on a long term basis for the theatre and the concert hall.
Full details of financial support are to be clarified at a meeting with the Scottish Arts Council on 8 March. The indication is that Horsecross has secured an increase on the current level of funding.
Horsecross chairman Iain Halliday said: We are delighted to quash recent speculation about the future of the theatre. The biggest opportunity that the theatre has had in recent years is the new relationship with the concert hall, with both venues at the heart of the regeneration of the city centre.
Perth’s focus on broadening audiences and offering a diverse range of events — across music, theatre, community arts and new media — were all crucial to the funding award.
Perth aims to be Europe's most vibrant small city by 2010,
continued Iain. The long-term support from SAC coupled with the investment from funders including Perth and Kinross Council, will undoubtedly help the city on its way to achieving that goal. Horsecross is looking forward to the challenge.
Important Horsecross facts:
- By the time we get to the end of the theatre season in April, a paying audience of more than 65,000 people will have passed through the doors of Perth Theatre.
- Our community team has never been busier, running projects all over Perthshire and the youth theatre has a membership of 155 young people, the busiest in Scotland and biggest in Perth's history.
- We have already exceeded our conferencing targets for this year and have attracted a great number of high profile events and business to the city; the Scottish Conservatives and the STUC conferences are just a few.
- The concert hall continues to provide a wide range of shows for all ages and all tastes, an incredible 52,000 people have passed through the doors since opening in September last year. These people are not only from the immediate area but our research has indicated that people travel from all over Scotland and further afield to our venues.