The Watermill Theatre today announces that Greenham Trust has added £20,000 to the match funding available via the Funding Alliance. The Alliance was established to support the Watermill following the news of its 100% funding cut by Arts Council, England. Its support has underpinned the work in 2023, for which the theatre has just been named Theatre of the Year at The Stage Awards.
This Alliance brings together The Headley Trust, The Bernard Sunley Foundation, Englefield Charitable Trust, Miss W E Lawrence 1973 Charitable Settlement, and Greenham Trust, to provide £78,000 of funding, pledged to match public donations made to The Watermill’s Communities Thriving through Culture campaign, via the funding alliance webpage on The Good Exchange.
PROPEL is The Watermill’s fundraising appeal supporting the theatre to continue its ambitious creative work and extensive community engagement programme as it transitions to an independent charity without statutory funding. The PROPEL campaign has raised £42,819.39 to date and it’s hoped that this additional match funding from Greenham Trust will help to drive donations to reach its fundraising target of £116,000 by the end of March.
The Watermill is a thriving regional theatre, producing world-class work from its 200-seat home on the banks of the river Lambourn. It offers a varied programme of outreach activities reaching across Berkshire and surrounding counties with touring shows and workshops. Its new season sees the return of the Shakespeare Ensemble with Much Ado About Nothing set in the golden age of Hollywood; Barnum bringing the wonder of circus to the theatre and gardens; a new production of The King’s Speech and Pinocchio at Christmas.
Claire Murray, Executive Director at The Watermill Theatre commented:
“Greenham Trust has been hugely supportive of The Watermill for many years, enabling tens of thousands of people to experience and participate in the creative arts through their funding of the outreach programme. By establishing the funding alliance, Greenham Trust have gone further in securing the future work of The Watermill. Every pound donated through the Good Exchange will be matched by the funding alliance and we hope that everyone will get behind us as we prepare for a new year filled with exciting shows and a vibrant participation programme.”
Chris Boulton, CEO of Greenham Trust, said:
“As soon as we heard about the funding cut by the Arts Council, England we realised there would be a need to engage a number of local funders in addition to Greenham Trust in helping The Watermill. This was quickly put together working with their team and I hope our £20,000 contribution so far will generate another matched-funding boost for their already successful PROPEL Campaign.”
In order to make a donation, which will be automatically matched thanks to the match funding alliance, please visit the Watermill Theatre’s fundraising page on The Good Exchange https://bit.ly/Support-The-Watermill
For further details on opportunities to support The Watermill Theatre, unlocking funds from the alliance, please contact Steph Dewar, Development Director on 01635 570928 or email development@watermill.org.uk.
